Bank Muamalat introduces plan for young people

Bank Muamalat introduces plan for young people

JAKARTA (JP): Bank Muamalat, Indonesia's first Islamic bank,
introduced a special savings plan yesterday for young people as
part of the national savings campaign to be launched by President
Soeharto tomorrow.

"The savings plan, called Trendi, offers depositors Islamic
life insurance called Takaful," the bank's president, Zainulbahar
Noor, said yesterday.

He said that Bank Muamalat, along with Bank Dagang Negara,
Bank Tabungan Negara and Bank Sewu, has been appointed by Bank
Indonesia, the central bank, to manage the nation-wide savings
campaign for school children, university students and youths.

"Any pupil, student and youth, regardless of their religions,
can deposit their money without any administration fees by
showing only their identity cards," he said.

A depositor can start with Rp 5,000 (US$2.20) and deposit as
little as Rp 1,000 with each visit," said Zainulbahar at the
launching of plan.

He said the accounts won't earn interest but rather a profit
sharing schedule, which is allowed under Islamic law.

He estimated that the profits offered for Trendi savings will
be about eight to nine percent per annum.

Depositors are free to deposit and withdraw their money at any
time, said Zainulbahar.

He added that 100 depositors every year will be eligible to
win scholarships of Rp 50,000 per month.

The Trendi plan will also offer prizes to those depositors
with the highest academic rankings in their schools or
universities.

Arief Thamrin, president of Takaful Keluarga, Bank Muamalat's
subsidiary operating in life insurance, said his company will
provide a premium of Rp 1,000,000 to the families of any Trendy
depositors that die by accident.

Zainulbahar also said that every Trendi depositor will receive
a discount card valid at various department stores, bookstores
and shopping centers. (kod)