By virtually any measure, Maybank is Malaysia’s best Islamic bank. It is ahead of its rivals in market share for total assets, financing, deposits and unrestricted investment accounts.
In 1993, Maybank was the nation’s first conventional commercial bank to provide Islamic financial services. Fifteen years later, in 2008, Maybank Islamic Berhad was incorporated as a wholly owned subsidiary.
Today, led by chief executive Mohamed Rafique Merican, Maybank Islamic offers products and services at more than 352 branches and distributor channels across the nation. Bloomberg ranks the bank fifth among global Islamic market leaders, with $67 billion of assets.
In 2022, total income rose 16% and profit before tax increased 8% year on year. Financing and advances rose 10%, while deposits and investment accounts increased 12.2%.
Maybank’s Islamic’s contribution to the broader Maybank universe of loans and financing increased to 67.2% in 2022, up from 66.1% in 2021.
Last year was an extraordinarily busy one for the lender. It arranged sukuk and syndicated financing transactions (many with sustainability components) for KPJ Healthcare, MBSB Bank, TNB Power Generation and Eco World Development Group.
It also acted as lead manager on deals for Johor Corporation, Edotco Malaysia, Federal Land Development Authority, Danainfra Nasional, TRX City and Tenaga Nasional.
Its work in sustainable finance has also been particularly important. In November 2022, it rolled out InCharge, a first-of-its-kind electric vehicle (EV) financing programme that broadens Maybank’s sustainability footprint. It offers financing and takaful coverage for EVs or hybrid vehicles and provides access to charging privileges through the Park Easy app.
Maybank Islamic has also installed EV charging stations to encourage the development of more sustainable infrastructure across Malaysia.
Maybank was the nation’s first conventional commercial bank to provide Islamic financial services
The bank offers eco-friendly credit cards made from renewable and bio-sourced materials. Programmes reward cardholders for shopping at specific green merchants and sustainable businesses. The aim is to broaden the scope and incentives for customers to reduce their carbon footprint.
The bank has also made a big investment in know-your-customer systems with its Zest-i online account opening process. In October 2022, M2U Premier Islamic account services were added to the app, including instant mobile-based onboarding.
Its Digital Wealth 360 platform offers an app-based wealth dashboard that enables Islamic wealth management clients to track their assets, liabilities and trading strategies. The bank introduced Maybank Home²u, Malaysia’s first fully digital application to offer the approval and signing of letter of offer facilities for home buyers.
The Ehsan financing tool, which helps Halal micro, small and medium-sized enterprises to scale up their businesses, was also launched in 2022.
