AmBank Islamic Allocates RM380,000 for iTEKAD Programme to Empower Micro Entrepreneurs
(Standing in the middle from left to right) Eqhwan Mokhzanee, Chief Executive Officer, AmBank Islamic, Dato’ Sri Hamidy Abdul Hafiz, Chairman, AmBank Islamic, Dato’ Bakhtiar Hussin, Board Member, TERAS with recipients at the Seed Funding and Cashless Solutions Presentation Ceremony for Asnaf Micro Entrepreneurs which was held at Bangunan AmBank Group, Kuala Lumpur.
Friday, 24 March 2023 - AmBank Islamic has marked its participation in the iTEKAD programme by allocating RM380,000 to provide funding assistance to micro entrepreneurs.
The iTEKAD programme involves seed capital, microfinancing and capacity building efforts. Bank Negara Malaysia also provides the matching fund for the seed capital component.
This maiden initiative is undertaken with the collaboration of State Islamic Religious Councils (SIRC) and aims to support Asnaf micro entrepreneurs to generate sustainable income, by boosting their business capacity.
Dato’ Sri Hamidy Abdul Hafiz, Chairman, AmBank Islamic said “Empowerment of Asnaf micro entrepreneurs and capacity building for the lower income group is one of AmBank Islamic’s strategic focus, in tandem with the Government’s broader aspiration to elevate B40 households towards a better quality of life. The iTEKAD programme powered by Bank Negara Malaysia creates the purposeful pathway for financial institutions like us to contribute to the long-term prosperity of the societies we serve.”
Eqhwan Mokhzanee, Chief Executive Officer, AmBank Islamic said “We are pleased to be part of the iTEKAD programme that provides a platform for us to promote financial inclusion which is an integral part of our sustainability aspiration. This programme is even more timely after the COVID-19 pandemic which has led to economic mishaps particularly for the lower-income group. We are also grateful to Bank Negara Malaysia for the matching sum under the seed capital component.
The iTEKAD initiative offers a unique proposition to empower business owners from the lower-income segment through better access to financial services. It would benefit over 58 entrepreneurs from the food & beverages, retail and services industry in Selangor and Negeri Sembilan.”
The iTEKAD seed capital component offers grant of up to RM20,000 for each participant whilst participants may apply up to RM10,000 of microfinancing from AmBank Islamic.
Under the capacity building component, the participants will be registered to use mTAP, a card acceptance solution that enables merchant to accept contactless credit or debit card using the NFC equipped Android mobile phones and be registered to AmBank’s DuitNow QR. In addition, each participant will be allocated up to RM2,000 for a data plan subscription and a free mobile phone from the MAXIS Business Postpaid and AmBank mTAP Bundle.
Established and launched in 2020 by Bank Negara Malaysia, iTEKAD is a blended social finance programme to support low-income micro entrepreneurs to strengthen their financial management and business acumen towards generating sustainable income. The programme provides business assets funded by social finance instruments (donations, social impact investment, zakat and cash waqf), microfinancing and structured training. As part of the Budget 2022 initiative, the Government has allocated RM20 million matching grant for the iTEKAD programme.