Giving in to demand, J&K Bank willing to offer Islamic banking: Chairman Parvez Ahmad

Jammu and Kashmir Bank is willing to offer Islamic banking to customers in the state and would examine the proposal after taking the Reserve Bank on board, its chairman Parvez Ahmad said on Monday. "Well, we have not given a serious thought to it, but there is a lot of demand for Islamic Banking in the state. Few clients who do not want to have the interest on their saving bank accounts, we do not have the mechanism how to take care of that particular component. But, we will examine the proposal and we have to also take RBI on board," Ahmad told reporters in Srinagar.

Ahmad, who was recently elevated as the chairman and chief executive officer of the bank, was interacting with the media for the first time since the assumption of the charge. He said subject to the proper examination of the proposal and the acceptance by the regulator RBI, the bank is "very much willing to offer this type of product line to the customers in J&K".

Asked whether J&K Bank was feeling threatened with the influx of private sector banks in the state, Parvez said so far as the competition is concerned, do not compare apples with oranges. "So far as the JK Bank positioning is concerned, it has 63% share on the asset side, 62% share on the deposit side, out of 862 branches, 745 are in the state, out of 1030 ATMs, 950 in JK state, 90% of the population is dealing with JK Bank, we have branch in every block of the state.

"With these kind of numbers, I do not see what kind of competition we are talking of. We have a monopolistic character, we have dominance, but we also need to be humble and we need to be supported well in order to retain our dominant position because J&K state is central to J&K Bank and its existence and it is the primary source of deriving the key advantages," he said.

"Other banks are only offering products and services, we are more concerned about the development of JK state as a whole," he said.