KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 26 — Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd has expanded the Ez-Zakat Muamalat, an automatic calculation and deduction service on savings and current accounts to assist Muslim depositors in paying zakat (tithes), to four more states—Kelantan, Pahang, Sarawak, and Penang.
The launch was marked with the signing of a cooperation agreement with the Kelantan Islamic Religious and Malay Customs Council, Pahang Zakat Collection Centre, Sarawak Baitulmal Fund, and Penang Zakat Centre.
Bank Muamalat consumer banking division chief Zury Rahimee Zainal Abiden said the bank had previously formed partnerships with zakat authorities in the Federal Territories, Selangor and Melaka.
“The Ez-Zakat Muamalat service has gained international recognition by winning the Innovative Service or Product Offering Award 2019 category in the Islamic Retail Banking Awards 2019 presented by the Cambridge International Financial Advisory (Cambridge IFA), in Oman, recently,” he said in a statement today.
Cambridge IFA is a financial services intelligence house that specialises in developing and utilising powerful cutting edge analytical tools to evaluate business data, assess macroeconomic indicators and understand market trends, leadership positioning and brand development relevant to the development of the financial services industry globally.
The Ez-Zakat Muamalat service is offered at all 65 Muamalat Bank branches nationwide and the zakat calculation and deduction method used is in accordance with the practices adopted by each state zakat centre.
“The zakat deduction will be done automatically when there is enough haul and nisab (in the accounts),” he said.
Sufficient nisab is the minimum level that determines whether a wealth is due for zakat, while sufficient haul is the completion period of one year of possession for a zakat asset. — Bernama
