Al Rajhi eyes 20% takaful contributions in 2015

KUALA LUMPUR: Al Rajhi Banking & Investment Corp (Malaysia) Bhd, which has launched its first bancatakaful product offerings in collaboration with Great Eastern Takaful Bhd, is confident that takaful products will contribute 20% to its fee-based income for 2015 or RM15 million worth of contributions.
Al Rajhi Bank Malaysia acting CEO Selamat Sirat said the collaboration marks the introduction of its first syariah compliant protection plan products, which are i-Great Raudhah and i-Great Bakti.
The i-Great Raudhah is a protection plan that gives seven in one benefits such as allowance for Umrah or Hajj, Qurban incentive and double sum covered during Umrah or Hajj, whereas i-Great Bakti is an investment-linked family takaful plan that combines investment and protection.
"We want to grow and have a fair share of the market. It takes time, that's why we have a good partner like Great Eastern Takaful that can support us. With Al Rajhi's stringent syariah requirements and reputation, hopefully we'll grow the market," he told a press conference after unveiling the bancatakaful products here yesterday.
Al Rajhi Bank Malaysia is a fully-owned subsidiary of Al Rajhi Bank headquartered in Saudi Arabia. Al Rajhi Bank is the largest Islamic bank in the world and Al Rajhi Bank Malaysia is its first venture abroad, followed by Kuwait and Jordan.
In Malaysia, Al Rajhi is now in its eighth year of operations and has 24 branches and a customer base of 160,000.
With a RM500 million capital injection from its parent, Al Rajhi Bank Malaysia plans to grow its business multifold.
"We're growing our business, which are the retail and corporate businesses. They (Al Rajhi Bank) value the Malaysian franchise and they intend to grow the business here and in the region," said Selamat.
Great Eastern Takaful CEO Zafri Ab Halim said penetration rate for takaful products stood at 12% currently, representing a lot of untapped potential.
Meanwhile, Selamat added that it is looking at a 50% growth year-on-year for its fee-based income and that fee-based income currently contributes 35% of its total income.
It is also looking for the opportunity to expand the fee-based income business through its range of wealth management products.