VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Mar. 4 - The Indonesian Ulemas Council (MUI) is encouraging Indonesian Muslims to use the services of Bank Syariah Indonesia (BSI), as part of efforts to develop sharia banking in the country.

"The number of sharia bank customers is still small. (Sharia compliant banks) currently hold an 8.5-percent share of the market, while the rest (of the people) have opted for conventional banks," chief of the MUI Office in Central Java, Ahmad Darodji, said while receiving a BSI delegation here on Wednesday.

The BSI delegation was led by Imam Hidayat Sunarto, BSI regional CEO for Semarang, Central Java.

The BSI should be encouraged to increase its market share since Muslims make up the majority group in the country, Darodji said.

He expressed the hope that BSI would be able to maximize financial literacy, disseminate products and educate the public about sharia compliant banking.

"In addition, it (BSI) needs to pick the ball and provide easy services," he stated.

He said the number of sharia bank customers in Central Java is still small since Muslims in the province still face difficulties in finding sharia bank ATMs, among other reasons.

Of course, this weakness has had an impact on the market share, he asserted. In order to increase the market share, BSI needs to provide easy services to sharia bank customers, he added.

“The public needs the BSI touch,” he remarked.

The government launched BSI after merging the sharia compliant subsidiaries of three state-owned lenders Bank Mandiri, Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI), and Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI) early in February this year. (Antaranews)