The digital banking app, Be U

Interview with Zahrain Zulkifli, Commercial Lead Centre of Digital Experience at Bank Islam Malaysia Berhad

Established in 1983, Bank Islam is the first Islamic bank, and one of the most well-known and trusted brands in Malaysia providing access to comprehensive Shariah-compliant banking and financial services. In response to changing customer expectations, in July 2022, Bank Islam launched Be U, a next-gen, customer-centric digital banking app targeted at the digital-native, younger Malaysian consumers. Marketed as “Malaysia’s Friendliest Digital Bank”, Be U is a ground-breaking digital banking proposition featuring a first-of-its-kind technology stack that is set to become the blueprint for all future digital banks in Malaysia.

Be U - a game changer

“Be U is a game changer for us, a unique, customer-centric, tech-enabled app that will offer consumers a whole new experience when it comes to banking. Mambu’s agile cloud banking platform provides the technological foundation of Be U, with AWS providing cloud hosting,” Noor Farilla Abdullah, Group Chief Digital Officer, Bank Islam.

Be U offers a savings account that allows zero balance, fund transfer capabilities and a savings feature called Nest to help users save for specific goals. Over the next 12 months, a number of exciting features will be introduced on the app, including term deposits, personal financial management, debit card, micro-financing and micro takaful.

Bank Islam focuses on broadening financial inclusivity and improving financial literacy. Hence, by utilising Be U’s engaging and user-friendly interface, customers are able to understand and better manage their finances.

“We want to turn Bank Islam into an increasingly agile organisation by adopting new ways of working, using the latest technology and leveraging data and automation to enable us to serve our customers better. Mambu’s cost-effective cloud-native banking platform offers the flexibility we need and the ability to collaborate with the broader fintech ecosystem,” Noor Farilla Abdullah, Group Chief Digital Officer, Bank Islam.

Bank Islam and Mambu

Mambu understands the vital role that Islamic finance plays in the lives of millions of people around the world and is committed to ensuring its SaaS cloud banking platform is accessible and beneficial to organisations offering financial services of all kinds. As such, in late 2020, Mambu’s product development team took steps to ensure that the Mambu platform could enable the rapid build and launch of new Islamic financial products and services.

At the same time, Bank Islam was seeking out potential partners to support the technology foundation for its all-new digital proposition. This organisational synergy convinced the bank to select Mambu as the technology foundation for the new digital offering.

Utilising AWS' cloud services, Mambu's SaaS banking platform enables Be U to leverage the power and flexibility of innovative banking architecture while also complying with Islamic banking principles.

About Bank Islam

Bank Islam is Malaysia's first publicly listed Islamic Bank on the Main Market of Bursa Malaysia. Established in July 1983 as Malaysia's first Islamic Bank, Bank Islam has 135 branches and more than 900 self-service terminals nationwide. As a full-fledged and pure-play Islamic bank, Bank Islam provides banking and financial solutions that strictly adhere to the Shariah rules and principles and are committed to the ideals of sustainable prosperity and ESG values. The core subsidiaries of the Bank Islam Group are pioneers in various Islamic financial services, including investment and stockbroking, namely BIMB Investment Management Berhad and BIMB Securities Sendirian Berhad. For more information on the Group's products and services, visit www.bankislam.com.