REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, BANDUNG -- PT Bank Mualamat Indonesia has announced plans to increase its retail funds, including saving and giro accounts, up to 56 per cent of its total third-party funds this year.

"The portion of retail or cheap funds is currently still at 40 per cent of total third-party funds worth more than Rp20 trillion," corporate secretary Meitra N. Sari said at a Media Training on Islamic Finance Products and Structure event in Bandung on Saturday.

In its efforts to increase the funds, the bank will work to boost its sales division's performance, Meitra said.

"With regard to products and promotion, we think we have done enough. So, the sales division must be empowered to penetrate the market and, at the same time, promote the concept of shariah banking," she said.

Bank Mualamat Indonesia has also set a target of increasing customer numbers by at least 10 per cent of the total 3.8 million retail customers it possessed in 2013.

Besides attracting new customers, the bank aims to boost the number of retail banking transactions by existing customers, who still tend to trust their retail banking transactions to non-shariah banks.

Strengthening electronic transaction facilities, such as ATMs, Internet banking and mobile banking, will be part of this strategy, said Meitra.

"If the transactions of 3.8 million customers could increase by just 20 per cent, the funds would also rise by around 20 per cent," she said.

Meitra predicted that the funding market share in the banking industry would diminish in the years to come.

"This is because people with big funds don't like to put them into saving or time deposit products. Banks compete over mutual funds, the property sector and gold," she said.

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