IslamicFinance.de

RAM Ratings expects investment accounts (IAs) to become an important source of new funding for Islamic banks this year as they emerge as potential game-changers in the way Islamic banks source their funds from the public. It noted that unrestricted IAs (UIAs), which are marketed to customers, are estimated to have increased more than RM14 billion in Q4’ 2015, surpassing the RM8.3 billion growth in the overall banking system’s deposits. The recent rapid growth of UIAs follows the requirement of the Islamic Financial Services Act 2013 that Islamic banks distinguish IAs from principal guaranteed deposits by end-June 2015. RAM’s assessment revealed that UIAs accounted for two-fifths of the RM47 billion of IAs in the Malaysian Islamic banking system as at end-2015.