KUALA LUMPUR: CIMB Bank Bhd and CIMB Islamic Bank Bhd have teamed up with Juwai IQI, Asia’s largest proptech group, to provide property financing to the latter’s customers in Malaysia.

       In a joint statement on Thursday, they said the partnership will also allow direct access to CIMB’s suite of investment solutions and exclusive benefits, providing a one-stop centre for a wide range of financial needs.

       Chief Executive Officer, CIMB Islamic, Ahmad Shahriman Mohd Shariff, said “CIMB is proud to be the first Malaysian-based bank to offer Syariah-compliant and sustainable solutions to Juwai IQI’s customers, including financing, takaful, deposits, investments and other banking services”.

       Bank Negara Malaysia’s monthly loan application data showed the value of home loan applications grew 86% year-on-year to RM179.4bil in the first half ended June 30, 2021 (1H21) from RM96.4bil in the previous corresponding period.

       “With the Overnight Policy Rate at a record low of 1.75%, consumers are taking advantage of mortgage rates as well as looking at other asset classes to generate higher yields.

       “We foresee a stronger growth for our consumer banking business this year and anticipate higher demand for real estate in the country and ASEAN as a whole in line with the global economic recovery,” Ahmad Shahriman said.

       Juwai IQI has been operating in Malaysia since 2012 and is present in 10 states, selling and renting properties with a combined value of over US$1bil (RM4.16bil) in total in 2020, having tripled its agency force to 15,000 globally in the same year.

       As a leading proptech group in ASEAN, it picked Malaysia for its Asean headquarters.

       The co-founder and group CEO of Juwai IQI, Kashif Ansari, said, “Since making Malaysia our regional Southeast Asian headquarters for our real estate business in 2016, we have grown 10-fold as a

       leading Asean proptech group. We are looking forward to this partnership.”