Monday, March 21, 2011

Bank Islam targets 50,000 new credit cards, sees competition heating up

KUALA LUMPUR: Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd is aiming to issue 50,000 new credit cards this year but expects competition for new customers to intensify among banks particularly for existing credit card holders.

Its general manager of consumer banking, Khairul Kamarudin said on Monday, March 21 the bank has about 500,000 credit cards issued and conceded the 10% growth target could be an uphill task following the increase in service tax to 6% from this year and the central bank's move to tighten the rules .

Speaking to reporters after launching Bank Islam's "Debit = Myvi" campaign, Khairul said competition for credit card customers is set to intensify among the banks particularly for existing credit card holders.

Last Friday, March 18, BNM raised the minimum income requirement for new card holders to RM24,000 per annum from RM18,000 a year. The central bank also limited the maximum credit limit for card holders earning RM36,000 a year or less to two times their monthly income of card holder per issuer.

However, Khairul added: "Other considerations related to creditworthiness remain intact. We didn't expect this to happen but we have planned ahead and we are offering debit cards to customers that are not eligible for credit cards".

Khairul also said Bank Islam was targeting issuance of 500,000 debit cards by this year and had issued almost 27,000 debit cards during the campaign's soft launch in the last three weeks.

"There is demand for convenience with debit cards and we just want to ride on it," he added.

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