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Dashen Bank, the pioneer in starting the interest-free window operation in a separate brand, Sharik, in 2018 announced that it would open nine interest-free bank branches (IFBs) in order to enhance its share of the thus burgeoning market. finance more halal businesses. Dashen has so far opened three dedicated IFB branches in Adama, Dire Dawa and Dessie. Apart from the four branches that will open in Addis Ababa; Plan in place to establish an additional five in different parts of the country until the end of the current Ethiopian fiscal year.
Dashen’s Corporate Interest-Free Banking Department Director Feysel Abdu reached out to The Ethiopian Herald and said the bank has been investing heavily in expanding the branch network and diversifying products to boost its portfolio in finance. Islamic cultures of Ethiopia. According to Feysel, the bank has spent a lot of time putting in place meticulous preparation to establish full-blown IFB branches that would operate all the services of international Islamic banks. Noting that Dashen has been providing IFB service at window level in more than 424 branches, he emphasized that the new measure addressed doubts some clients had that their deposits could be mixed with the conventional wing.
“We have been investing heavily in IFB’s Windows core banking system and installed separate schemes for conventional and interest-free operations, which successfully deterred the finance mix. Despite this, we understand that the interest in dedicated service and separate is still huge among our clients. ” The director noted that the bank has appointed a five-member Sharia Advisory Committee (SAC) to oversee sharia compliance and increase customer confidence in IFB’s operation. SAC has also offered the bank’s board of directors, management and clients various advisory functions. Under Sharik, full-fledged branches have been offering various IFB products and services, including Murabaha (Cost-Benefit Financing, in which the seller and buyer agree on the cost and profit margin of an asset) for capital labor, project financing, consumer financing and investment financing and capital goods.
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The branches have also been providing Wadiah (deposit) and Qard (interest-free loan) products and are set to launch Mudarabah (a profit and loss sharing agreement with venture capital and skills) soon. “Dashen’s IFB customer base has exceeded 166,000 and the deposit in the scheme exceeded 2.6 billion Birr at the end of August 2020,” Feysel said, adding that the bank has been approving 1.4 billion Birr for projects in halal investment and business so far. . The bank would consolidate its commitment to support projects that have been executed in accordance with Sharia law.
According to the director, the same consideration has also been given to the Internet and mobile banking and Dashen has offered the Hiba gift card, the An-Nisa women’s card and the Sharik card for IFB customers. While the measure materializes the bank’s strategic digitization goal and maintains business growth, it would also ensure customer satisfaction.
