Publicly listed Bank Islam Malaysia is set to officially launch its digital banking app called Be U in the middle of this month, The Edge Markets reported, citing a statement from the bank’s CEO Muazzam Mohamed.
The news comes two months after the country’s central bank awarded digital banking licenses to five applicants, including consortiums led by Grab and Sea Group. Bank Islam was not one of the awardees, but it will use its existing Islamic banking licenses for its offering.
Bank Islam said that it has invested 34 million ringgit (around US$7.7 million) to set up the digital bank, and it aims to acquire up to 400,000 users in the next 12 months.
According to Mohamed, Be U focuses on university students, fresh graduates, and gig workers, so it will not compete with Bank Islam’s existing market in the SME sector.
In the first quarter of this year, Bank Islam’s revenue hit 774 million ringgit (around US$174.6 million), a slight increase of 0.4% compared to last year. However, its net profit dropped 33% to 105.9 million ringgit (around US$23.9 million) in the same period.
See also: Pleasant surprise in Malaysia’s digibank race
Currency converted from Malaysian ringgit to US dollar: US$1 = 4.43 ringgit.
Editing by Miguel Cordon and Lorenzo Kyle Subido
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