The Difference Of The Participation Banking Is The Awareness Of It

Conventional banks make up approximately 93% of the banking sector in our country. On the other hand, participation banks that have been struggling for existence in our country since the 1980s make up approximately 7% of the sector.

There may be several reasons why the development in the sector's share of participation banks could not achieve the expected momentum, and each of these are issues that need to be addressed separately. Without a doubt, however, participation banks have not achieved this share they have gained in the sector only through interest-free discourse. 

The customers of participation banks are special

Generating income as a result of the various financial services it offers to its customers, the banking sector operates with a focus on customer satisfaction, like all other service sectors.

In order for raising awareness about the products and services they offer, they are trying to increase the number of customers and the profitability of the banks through the advertisements they make via written and visual media, social media, and other communication channels.

For participation banks, customers are not only people who come with financial demands but also people who prefer this system in order to stay away from conventional banks and interest. Therefore, the products offered by participation banks to their customers must be products that comply with Islamic law and meet financial needs. 

The most important detail in the approach of participation banks towards customer acquisition should be to highlight the points where they differ from conventional banks. Participation banks should tell their customers how different they are in essence, even though they look like conventional banks in terms of their branches, products, ways of operating, in short, they should shape their corporate identities on this line.

Therefore, they should design their advertisement and communication activities in a way that creates awareness in their current and potential customers.

 What about internal customers 

A system built on sensitive values such as participation banking will be stronger as each personnel becomes more sensitive about the values of this system. Therefore, the most valuable equity of participation banking is human.

What makes the human element so valuable in participation banking is the sensitivity expected from the person who is in charge of implementing the system during the implementation of the system. At this point, participation banks should organize training and activities that motivate their employees, who are also internal customers and raise awareness about the nature and importance of the work they do.

Each personnel is also a communication channel that will affect the advertised identity and corporate image. The communication between customers and personnel will significantly affect the way the customer perceives the bank. Therefore, participation banks should strive to improve their personnel's knowledge level, education level, and most importantly, their command in terms of the principles of participation banking and Islamic banking, as well as their efforts to create credibility, prestige, corporate image, and highlight the points where they differ from conventional banks.

Participation banks should provide training to their personnel to increase their awareness in order to know the differences between interest and profit share, which transactions the participation banks perform within the framework of which compliances and fatwas, the differences between conventional banking products and the products of participation banks, and to convey these to their customers in a correct way.

CEMİL BALKANLI