Islamic Banking

International Journal of Business and Social Science

Vol. 3 No. 11; June 2012

Perception of Non-Muslims Customers towards Islamic Banks in Malaysia
Abdul Aziz Abdullah Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu Malaysia Rokiah Sidek International Islamic University Malaysia Gombak, Kuala Lumpur Malaysia Ahmad Azrin Adnan Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu Malaysia Abstract
Islamic banking products and services are gaining popularity among non-Muslims across the globe due to its wider product coverage and ability to traverse the global economic melt-down. However, to what extent this statement is true in Malaysian context. Hence, this research aims to examine non-Muslim customers’ perception of Islamic banking products and services in Malaysia. The analysis of this research involved 152 respondents, all of whom are based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The result of the study showed that Islamic banking services are making headway among non-Muslims in Kuala Lumpur. Despite this positive trend, more efforts need to be energized to enhance the level of understanding for non-Muslim customers on the Islamic banking concepts. Similarly, a more comprehensive research is required to be undertaken to uncover various reasons of Islamic banking selection by non-Muslim customers. For the degree of perception, the link between religion and education could not be established with the perception that the establishment of Islamic banking will improve the overall banking facilities since most of the respondents were unsure of Islamic banking products and services are gaining popularity among non-Muslim. Most respondents strongly thought that Islamic banking would dominate conventional banking in Malaysia, in the near future.

Keywords: Perception, Islamic banking, products, services, non-Muslim Introduction
Being one of the most progressive Muslim countries in the world, Malaysia has been promoting the idea of implementing Islamic

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