REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA – The gold pawn ceiling of 250 million IDR per customer will not decrease its demands in Islamic banking. In fact, the demand is still high in this sector.   

The Business Director of Bank Syariah Mandiri (BSM), Hanawijaya, said, about 80 percent of gold pawn of BSM customers took the financing below the ceiling set by Bank Indonesia (BI). “We are optimistic the gold pawn market is still big. Customers with urgent needs are still dominating,” he said on Tuesday in Jakarta.

The regulation released by the central bank is considered loose and flexible. For example, the pawn transaction is restricted to three times but the forth transaction since it is counted as a new transaction by a customer.

The financing tenor of gold pawn is also restricted to four months. The regulation opens opportunity to the bank to increase the financing of gold pawn. The financing surpassing four months will be considered as a new pawn. “The regulation is still flexible for the banks,” he said.

The regulation has been discussed with industrial actors, who consider that the ceiling set by BI is acceptable. 

Yet, the gold pawn regulation has not been informed to Islamic banking, Hanawijaya said. Next, Islamic bank still get a year transition for adjusting after the regulation is released.

The restriction does not halt Syariah Bukopin (BSB)’s plan to open gold pawn service. The General Director of BSB, Riyanto, said, the financing market of gold pawn is high while the risk is relatively small. “The market demand is high and the prospect is quite promising,” he said.

Yet, BSB still focuses on retail market. Riyanto assesses the ceiling restriction of gold pawn financing is not urgent because bank can prevent customer activity that lead to speculation. 

Once BI issues BSB’ license for gold pawn service, the bank will open gold ownership product (KLM). “We start with gold pawn first. If the response is good, we will start opening new products,” he said.