Five banks get sharia banking quality awards

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Five Islamic banks received the Sharia Banking Quality Award for superior customer service, a press release said on Wednesday.

The banks are Bank International Indonesia (BII) Syariah, Bank Danamon Syariah, Bank Bukopin Syariah, Bank Syariah Mandiri (BSM), and Bank Muamalat Indonesia (BSM).

The awards, which will be handed over on April 20, 2004 here, were given based on a survey conducted by Modal, a Jakarta-based sharia economic and business magazine, and the Karim Business Consulting (KBC).

The survey covered nine banks in eight cities on the island of Java, namely Jakarta, Bandung, Cirebon, Semarang, Pekalongan, Yogyakarta, Surabaya and Malang. In the survey researchers posing as clients interacted directly with the banks's front-liners.

"The awards were given to encourage sharia banks to improve their performance and service so that they could compete with conventional national and international conventional banks," Guntur Subagja, Modal's chief editor, said.

The recipients of the award are BII Syariah (The Best Security Squad, The Best Customer Service, The Most Comfortable Service), Bank Danamon Syariah (The Best Teller, The Most Convenient ATM, The Most Comfortable Office), Bank Bukopin Syariah (The Best Office Equipment, The Most Comfortable Office), Bank Syariah Mandiri (The Best Service Quality, The Most Comfortable Musholla, or prayer room), and Bank Muamalat Indonesia (The Top of Mind).