The unprecedented Covid-19 pandemic is currently still at large, substantially disrupting socio economic maturity across the globe. The Statistics of Labour Force reported back in August that 778,200 persons or 4.6 percent of the Malaysian population are left unemployed.
To help stabilize household incomes, people are turning to Islamic pawn broking or Ar Rahnu to get quick cash financing. It is becoming the preferred alternative for various income groups – the B40, M40 and most recently, the T20 limited by access to formal financial facilities due to poor credit rating, instable income and having very little collateral after struggling with the pandemic’s impact.
Besides individual customers, small and medium sized enterprises, petty traders and hawkers struggling with liquidity due to similar reasons are also seeking out Ar Rahnu services to rebuild their capital and broaden their business capacity.
Meeting the Market Demand
In order to meet the rising demand, Ar Rahnu operators must be prepared to expand their role beyond than a mere pawn broking facility for local communities into an important economic stimulant to the nation’s budding SME industry.
It is imperative that Ar Rahnu operators digitally transform their business operations in order to improve customer experiences and leverage the advantages of financial technology to fulfill the market demands by being more sustainable and cost effective in the long run.
According to the 2018 Islamic Fintech report, Asian countries have the highest number of internet users of around 2.275 million, compared to other parts of the world. Malaysia is among the top five countries in terms of internet usage.
This creates an amazing opportunity for advances in technology to accelerate the digital migration of Malaysian businesses. The incorporation of technology and mobile networks has created new balances and applications for all businesses.
Digital transformation of the Ar Rahnu business model also means more merit to consumers as they enjoy hassle-free and convenient transactions online. Customers are no longer required to visit physical financial outlets with the digital option available to use at their convenience.
Advanced Islamic Pawn Broking Solution
The Ar Rahnu solution by INFOPRO was designed to augment the Islamic pawn broking industry based on the Islamic principles in the application of Shariah contracts encompassing an end-to-end, customer-centric experience for both the front end user as well as back-end processing.
It features built-in analytics with user-friendly dashboards which enables Ar Rahnu operators to monitor their business performance effectively, compare growth over time, spot business opportunities, and make better decisions.
INFOPRO’s Ar Rahnu solution provides systematic advantages for all institutions regardless of size, from single to multi-branch facilities.
Our customary user-centric solution features intelligent customer segmentation techniques which among others to help identify customers with higher business potential. This allows Ar Rahnu operators recommend more relevant products to individual customers.
User and Operator Friendly Apps
INFOPRO’s Ar Rahnu mobile application enables more potential customers to estimate the value of their gold before making a decision to pawn the items. This is highly beneficial for operators whereby you can reduce overhead costs and simplify the processes to serve non eligible or indecisive customers.
By allowing more customers to experience this mobile-friendly solution, you will be able to attract more customers to pawn their gold at your branch. Albeit the whole process is not completely online, this method will surely encourage more potential customers who utilize the mobile application to walk in and proceed to pawn their gold with you.
Your business may also gain data from customers who use the application to make estimations. As their information are safely secured in the system, all customers need to do is present a simple QR code to your pawnshop. This will result in faster processing time, increase in customer satisfaction and drive more business for you!
AMLA & Shariah Compliant
Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) on 31 December 2019 issued a new guideline on Anti-Money Laundering imposed under the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001 (AMLA).
At INFOPRO, we ensure that your Ar Rahnu business complies with the AMLA requirements as our solution comes with automated name screening. Under the AMLA, financing institutions must not only screen new customers against sanctions lists but conduct regular checks on existing customers to ensure risk profiles have not changed.
The Shariah Advisory Coucil (SAC) of BNM at its 194th meeting on 25 June 2019 and its 195th meeting on 31 July 2019 resolved that the Ar-Rahnu product structure offered by Islamic financial institutions (IFIs) through the combination of qard (loan), rahn (pledge), wadi`ah (safekeeping) and ujrah (fee) does not fulfil the Shariah requirements in Rahn Policy Document.
It is clear to understand that INFOPRO’s application of Shariah contracts in our Ar-Rahnu solution is in full compliance with all requirements set out in Bank Negara Malaysia’s (the Bank) policy documents on Tawarruq and Rahn that also bring the mutual exercise for Suruhanjaya Koperasi Malaysia (SKM) to conduct with.
Rest assured that INFOPRO is here to help your business meets the regulatory requirement and most importantly, Shariah compliancy as imposed by BNM under the Islamic Financial Services Act 2013 (IFSA). Being named as The Best Islamic Financial Software Provider 2019 by Islamic Fintech News (IFN), rest assured that our Ar Rahnu solution is end-to-end Shariah-compliant.
INFOPRO will facilitate your transition from the current concept (qard, wadi’ah and ujrah) to Tawarruq & Salam – an automated buying and selling of commodities based on the Islamic concept of Murabaha which also comes with the Tawliyah contract as an optional package that helps define how you manage and handle transactions accordingly. Most importantly, for the benefit of customers to decide on the best Ar Rahnu package that suits their preference accordingly.
Transform your Ar Rahnu business with our end-to-end solution and compete effectively in a dynamic Islamic pawn broking industry. For more information, visit www.infopro.com.my/ar-rahnu-1/