Bank Islam has revealed that it will be officially launching its digital bank, dubbed Be U, in mid-July 2022. Rolled out in the form of a mobile banking app, Be U is said to be Malaysia’s first digital bank to be built natively on the cloud, and is targeted primarily at the younger generation.

According to the chief executive officer of Bank Islam, Muazzam Mohamed, the Be U app currently offers a savings account that allows for zero balance (called Be U Qard savings account-i), along with fund transfer capabilities. The app also has a feature called Nest, which enables users to save their money according to specific goals.

Aside from that, new offerings are also set to be rolled out in stages following Be U’s official launch in mid-July, staggered over the next 12 months. These include personal financial management features, where users can interact with a personalised financial coach, a basic financial product, QRPay, as well as something called Gigs.

Muazzam also clarified that the Be U app is actually already available for download since mid-June, but Bank Islam held off on making an official announcement as it was looking to gather useful feedback from users.

“Our baby that has been in the making, Be U, is now already available. It’s been two weeks already, and there have been points that we’ve taken [from users] on how we can make tweaks, but it’s been smooth so far. So, by the time we launch in mid-July, I think we’re fully ready to wow our customers in terms of the user interface and user experience,” said Muazzam.

Muazzam also commented that the Be U app is an offering that is aimed at the younger generation. “Let’s say you’re a final-year student at university, or someone who has just started your first job, or a gig worker, or someone below 30 who is just starting a family – what would be your needs from a financial requirements perspective? We’ve built a proposition on Be U for those needs specifically,” he said.

Muazzam further stressed that the Be U app will help Bank Islam break into new customer segments and convert younger users into future Bank Islam customers. “For example, a lot of the retail propositions in Bank Islam are more for people who are already a bit more established in their working lives. So, if Be U can capture a group that is still in the early stage of their working lives, once they move forward and need more complex financial products and instruments that Bank Islam already offers, then they can shift to become Bank Islam customers, and we are going to make [that shift] easy for them,” he further elaborated.

Ultimately, Muazzam said that the Be U app is expected to complement Bank Islam’s existing banking mobile app, GO by Bank Islam. It is also hoped that Be U will attract between 350,000 to 400,000 downloads and users within the first year of its launch. You can download the Be U app from Google Play and the App Store.

Bank Islam’s rollout of its Be U app comes just about two months after Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) announced the five successful applicants for its digital banking licences. The five consortiums that were selected are required to undergo a period of operational readiness – which may take up to two years – before they can begin actual operations.

(Sources: The Edge Markets, Lowyat.NET)

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• Bank Islam
• Bank Islam Be U Digital Bank
• Digital Banks
• GO By Bank Islam
• Mohd Muazzam Mohamed