Indonesian Islamic digital bank Hijra Bank is optimistic that its performance this year will increase, because it is supported by the number of users that have experienced significant growth, in line with the high public needs in sharia financial services.
Hijra Bank said in a statement that going forward, the bank will continue to focus on improving financial performance and making various improvements to existing services so that customers and society, in general, can be served well and optimally.
Digitally, the bank is aiming for 1 million new users in the next one year.
It is noted that up until now, Hijra Bank has recorded user growth achievements of more than 200 percent only in a short period of time.
This has also driven the growth of transactions through the Hijra Bank digital application, which has almost tripled since the Hijra Bank digital application was launched three months ago, in December 2022.
Dima Djani, Group Chief Executive Officer of Hijra Bank, said that the various achievements that the company has achieved cannot be separated from the strategies adopted by the team to answer the various needs of the community for finance that is simple, fun, easy-to-access, and in accordance with Islamic values.
“Alhamdulillah, we were able to record encouraging growth, both in terms of the number of users and transactions. This is supported by technology-based innovations that we continue to develop to provide the best service to the community,” said Dima.
Most of more than 50 percent of Hijra Bank application users are millennials and gen-Z, that is, under 35 years of age.
Then, more than 24 percent of Hijra Bank digital application users are entrepreneurs, with user ecosystems spread across 34 provinces in Indonesia.
Dima added Hijra Bank’s brilliant performance was not only reflected in Hijra Bank’s digital performance.
Another thing that also shows the positive performance of the company is its financial performance.
Until the end of 2022, Hijra Bank managed to distribute financing growth of almost 200% from the previous year.
Meanwhile, through the distribution of this financing, the company managed to record a profit increase of more than 200 percent year-on-year.
The third-party funds (DPK) that Hijra Bank managed to collect by end of 2022 also rose 220 percent year-on-year, and assets increased to almost 200 percent at the end of 2022.
“The non-performing financing (NPF) ratio has improved significantly, which means that the quality of financing distributed by Hijra Bank has improved quite well,” explained Dima.
The Islamic lifestyle has also recently experienced growth in line with the increasing desire of people to use banking application services not only for transaction and business purposes.
People also need added value in banking applications, so they can get a better understanding in terms of financial management and support a halal lifestyle.
This was later captured by Hijra Bank by presenting the Hijra Box feature in its digital application.
The Hijra Box feature is embedded in the Hijra Bank digital application to help people manage their finances more carefully according to their respective desired goals, such as savings for the Umrah pilgrimage.
Meanwhile, for people who want to get additional knowledge about the challenges of modern society, such as parenting, mental health, to households, they can access the Islamic Feature & Hijra Lifestyle feature which presents scientific study sessions from experts on interesting and useful topics.
This feature is accompanied by an “Ask an Expert” service from Asatidz and experts who are ready to answer user questions.
To achieve users growth, Hijra Bank has formulated the several strategic steps.
First, the bank is launching new products with a high level of demand and large gaps in the market such as Sharia Housing Financing (PPR) products as well as features that make it easier for users’ daily lives such as payment point online bank (PPOB) for bill payments, electronic money top-up, as well as HijraBiz Individual, an innovative feature aimed at facilitating businesses to manage their cash flow aside from their personal money.
Second, Hijra Bank is serious about deepening partnerships with large halal business ecosystems including Paragon, the holding company for cosmetics Wardah and MakeOver, as well as the sharia business unit of one of the largest banks in Indonesia, and continues to be open for other collaborations in the future.
Third, the firm is facilitating the user community and potential users to be able to grow as new entrepreneurs who are strong in understanding and trained to develop their business with the Hijra ecosystem through ARQAM and the ALAMI Institute.
“As a newcomer, we are optimistic that Hijra Bank will be increasingly accepted and present to complement the halal lifestyle of people in Indonesia,” said the bank.
Hijra Bank is the result of the transformation of BPRS (rural bank) Cempaka Al-Amin which was acquired by ALAMI Group in March 2021.
Since being acquired by ALAMI, Hijra Bank’s performance has continued to improve in terms of assets, collection of DPK, and distribution of financing, along with various innovations and development of business processes inside.