Retail Banking: A Study of Bank Selection Criteria in Malaysia’s Islamic Banking Service

Government efforts to promote and develop the Islamic financial system have placed Malaysia on a strong footing to exploit the potential market both domestic and international. In just two decades, Islamic banking has made significant inroads and expanded rapidly to become an integral part of the country’s financial system in both total assets and number of players in the industry. Islamic banking in Malaysia, which runs parallel to conventional banking system, has become a catalyst to the growth of the other sectors, such as takaful and the money market. In Malaysia, Islamic banking has taken into consideration the multi-racial and multi-religious structure of the Malaysian population. This study is designed to identify the profile and banking habits of Islamic bank customers as well as their awareness, usage, perceived importance and degree of satisfaction with the current products and services provided by one of the two leading Islamic banks operating in Malaysia. Findings reveal that the chief factors determining customers are friendliness of bank personnel and caring attitude toward customers