Maybank Islamic Bank has recently launched EzyWasiat, a digital will-writing service aimed at the Muslim community in Malaysia, and is seeking to expand the offering to other markets it operates in.
Maybank Islamic CEO Mohamed Rafique Merican said the bank’s Islamic wealth management business has footprints beyond Malaysia, particularly in ASEAN countries. As such, he said the aspiration is to serve the bank’s customers in countries where it has a footprint within ASEAN and beyond, so that the offering may benefit a wider community.
“We think that if this is well received by our customers here in Malaysia, then we can extend the offering to other markets where we have a presence,” Mohamed Rafique said during the press conference at the launch of EzyWasiat.
The digital platform’s assisted model, in compliance with Shariah and Faraid (Islamic inheritance) principles, allows customers to receive direct assistance from Maybank Islamic’s wealth management advisors or relationship managers. These professionals utilize the Faraid algorithm integrated into the platform, simplifying the entire Wasiat (will)-writing process.
By collaborating with fintech platform provider CreateWills, along with the advisory support of Maybank Islamic’s customer relationship personnel, the bank ensured that that the product will offer a seamless and accessible experience for its customers.
Mohamed Rafique said EzyWasiat addresses the long-standing barriers of complexity, cost and convenience that have hindered many Muslims from preparing their Wasiat. He pointed out that more than RM70 billion (US$15.13 billion)-worth of properties or assets in Malaysia are pending distribution.
“A significant portion of this is reported to be belonging to Muslims. This could be avoided if we become more aware of the importance of planning for the distribution of our assets prior to our demise,” Mohamed Rafique said.
Maybank Islamic targets 50,000 customers to sign up for EzyWasiat within the first 12 months of the launch. “Wealth management, in our view, is not necessarily for those who have a certain net worth. It should be accessible to as many as possible.
“With that number, then we can actually start to build relationships with the customers to better understand their needs, how we can serve them better and if there are perhaps areas that we need to strengthen further,” Mohamed Rafique added.