KUALA LUMPUR: Bank Rakyat is introducing an Islamic-centric, non-commercial mobile application, called Barakah, featuring everything from Quranic verses to the various zakat rates in different Malaysian states and other information suited to the Islamic lifestyle for the general public .
During a press visit to The New Straits Times Press (Malaysia) Bhd premises at Balai Berita in Bangsar today, Bank Rakyat’s Public Relations and Corporate Branding manager Nizam Abu Samah said that this free Bahasa Malaysia app was intended for Malaysians in general and was part of the bank’s CSR programme.
“Barakah is part of Bank Rakyat’s foray into using technology to disseminate positive messages to the community in which it serves,” said Nizam.
He also told the stable of publications under the NSTP Group that Barakah, which is available on both iOS and Android, is expected to see 50,000 downloads by the end of the year.
He said that the non-banking Barakah app is in its first phase, which also includes capabilities like locating the nearest mosque for user via the GPS-enabled feature and this is available nationwide.
The second phase of the Barakah app which will be released in October this year will have more features like listings of halal restaurants overseas, for those who enjoy travelling, and also e-books.
“The future phases of Barakah will even include haj and umrah guides for Muslims,” Nizam said.
He added that a phase three of Barakah is scheduled for launch sometime in early-2018 with further features.
Nizam said that the contents of Barakah has been approved by Bank Rakyat’s Syariah Committee.