Capturing Gen Z: When Islamic Banks Sell Solutions Rather Than Just Labels

For Angela (26), Islamic banks once felt distant. A Catholic woman from East Nusa Tenggara, she initially believed these services were exclusively for Muslims. “At first, I thought only Muslims could use Islamic banks,” she told Republika in mid-July. This perception persisted, as the frequent use of Arabic terminology made her feel the services were not intended for her. However, her view changed after a friend introduced her to a Wadiah-based savings account at Maybank Syariah. She has since also begun saving gold through the Pegadaian Gold Savings feature on the M2U ID Maybank application. “What I like is that there are no administration fees. The gold savings are also profitable because the selling price does not drop significantly,” she said. Despite using Sharia products, Angela maintains a conventional bank account for her payroll.

A similar experience was shared by Falah (25), a young man from Brebes, Central Java. He chose to open a Maybank Sharia account not solely for the Sharia label, but because of his trust in Maybank’s reputation as one of Malaysia’s largest banks. “I felt more confident. When travelling to Malaysia, Maybank is the one I see most frequently,” he said. However, once he became a customer, his reason for staying was much simpler: he chose the Wadiah-based savings account because it carries no monthly administration fees. “No admin fees. It’s enough for a coffee,” he joked. While he continues to use the Sharia account for savings, his conventional account remains his primary account for payroll and transactions with family and friends.

The experiences of Angela and Falah demonstrate that the reasons young people choose Islamic banks are shifting. They are drawn not merely by the Sharia label, but by products that meet their daily needs, such as fee-free accounts and ease of gold investment. This shift in perspective is also evident in Aprilia (25), a Christian woman from Cempaka Putih, Central Jakarta. She admitted she previously believed Islamic banks were only for Muslims, a view shaped by news regarding the merger of three state-owned Islamic banks into PT Bank Syariah Indonesia Tbk (BSI). “As a Christian, I assumed Sharia was for Islam,” she said. This assumption initially prevented her from considering an account, and she even felt awkward visiting a branch because the customer service staff wore hijabs.

Her perspective changed when she sought a place to invest in gold through BSI, where she discovered that Islamic banking services are open to everyone regardless of religion. Now, her account is used not only for savings but also for gold instalments. “I was wrong all along. Islamic banks are not just for Muslims,” she said. Having become a customer, she finds the products are fundamentally similar to conventional banks, though she feels more secure and comfortable using them. Nevertheless, Aprilia believes many people still hold similar misconceptions. “It is a matter of stigma. I am non-Muslim, and I feel the features are the same as conventional ones,” she noted. She suggested that the misconception persists because information is not evenly distributed. “Perhaps literacy is not uniform. Not everyone is financially literate, and sometimes information is lacking.” Aprilia’s experience shows that investment products can serve as an entry point for the public to discover Islamic financial services.