A study of the customers` selection criteria and the financial performance of the Islamic Bank of Thailand (ISBT)

Abstract

A study on the bank selection criteria has been done empirically by several studies in the Islamic and non-Islamic countries. The Islamic bank is relatively new in Thailand, a non-Muslim country. The Islamic banking in Thailand has started since 2002’s and it is the first Islamic bank called the Islamic Bank of Thailand (ISBT). Since the Islamic bank in Thailand is newly established, no empirical study has been done on it. Moreover, five years have passed since the ISBT was established, and so far, there has been no study done on its financial performance evaluation. Therefore, this study attempts to capture the perceptions of the Thai (Muslim and non-Muslim) customers towards the objectives and characteristics of the Islamic bank and also to determine the bank selection criteria used by them. In addition, this study also evaluates the financial performance of the ISBT during the period of 2003-2007. The study surveys a sample of 462 respondents. The results show that the Thai customers know that the characteristics of the Islamic bank is interest prohibition and they desire the Islamic bank to achieve the social objectives more than the commercial objectives. In addition, the empirical findings of the bank selection criteria indicate that there are differences between the Thai Muslim and non-Muslim customers in the ranking of the various bank selection criteria. The Muslims highly consider the interest-free saving, while the non-Muslims are concerned more on its reputation and image, knowledgeable and competent personnel. Besides, the study evaluates the financial performance during the period of 2003-2007. In general, the performance evaluation of the ISBT during these periods indicated that the bank had no profits, less liquidity, high risky and less efficiency during 2003-2007.