The Bank Alfalah has announced to launch Islamic Banking Operation in Afghanistan from today (Thursday). According to a press release issued here on Wednesday the Bank Alfalah started its first branch in Kabul, Afghanistan on September 04, 2005.
Within a span of less than a year the branch performance has been very encouraging and it has been received well by the local market. The Bank Alfalah is amongst the five largest banks of Afghanistan and the branch has secured a sound deposit base.
The choice of this destination has been very rewarding, as Afghanistan is a region, which offers great opportunities of growth in terms of its strategic location.
Afghanistan can serve as the gateway for oil and power from Central Asian republics into Asia and Bank Alfalah is keen to participate in the trade opportunities thus arising. The branch currently offers a myriad of services to serve customers effectively such as free services on account opening, balance inquiry, deposits, withdrawals, delivery of account statements, currency conversions etc.
"Our customer base now stretches from local public to business concerns and from NGO's and the government ministries to international donor agencies", the press release said.
Given the market acceptability and the opportunity that exists, Bank Alfalah in its aggressive yet prudent stance on growth, is now positioned to offer Islamic banking services a1ong with conventional banking services to its clientele, under branch operations from Thursday.
The Islamic banking is an avenue in which Bank Alfalah has acquired considerable expertise. Islamic banking, which was started some 30 years ago, has gained sizeable momentum during last six years. It is now being offered in major countries of the world by leading international and regional banks and is particularly gaining popularity in Muslim countries, In Pakistan its growth has been exponential. The Bank Alfalah's Islamic banking branches, comprising 15 currently, in Pakistan have performed very well. Consequently the management has decided to replicate its initiative in Afghanistan.
The Bank Alfalah's Kabul branch will be the first bank in Afghanistan to offer Islamic banking services to the local clientele. Bank Alfalah aims to enhance the standard of living and quality of life of the general masses through the introduction of Islamic Banking services by catering to the needs of those segments which have remained untapped.
"The products that our Kabul branch initially aims to offer encompass Current Accounts which are further subdivided into two types ie US Dollar Current Account and Afghani Current Account", the press release said and added, "Our second product being the Savings Accounts which comprises US Dollar Savings Accounts and Fixed Term Accounts". "We would also be dealing in foreign exchange remittances and the buying and selling of foreign exchange on spot basis", it added.-PR