Ithmaar Bank, a Bahrain-based Islamic retail bank, yesterday launched a new savings account offers unique benefits and features for youth between 12 and 18 years old.

"7esabi was designed to get youth familiarised with the basic concepts of banking as early as possible," Ithmaar Bank chief executive and board member Mohammed Bucheerei was quoted as saying by the Gulf Daily News, our sister publication.

"This, we feel, will help encourage youth to develop responsible spending-saving patterns that, we hope, will dramatically help them in the future," he said.

"As a pioneering Islamic bank in the region, Ithmaar recognises the important role we must play in the community - and the introduction of 7esabi, which coincides with the start of Ramadan, is one of the many ways we try to play a real and meaningful role in our community," said Bucheerei.

"The new account will, for example, allow our youth liberating new freedoms in terms of their ability to spend, save and shop under simple but effective control mechanisms by their parents. Ultimately, this will help create financial discipline in perhaps the most important unit in our community, the basic family unit," he said.

The 7esabi, an Arabic term meaning "My Account", account includes its own uniquely designed MasterCard debit card which will be issued directly to the account holder and allow them to make purchases at point of sale machines, withdraw or deposit cash at automated teller machines (ATMs), shop or pay bills online and conduct banking transactions at their favourite Ithmaar Bank branch.

The 7esabi account will be a joint account between the youth account holder and one of their parents which, in turn, will allow parents to decide spending limits. Parents, along with the account holder, will also receive SMS notifications - which include the amount, time, merchant name and available balance - for all 7esabi transactions to allow everyone complete peace of mind.

7esabi account holders will enjoy the same expected profit rates as regular saving account holders. As an additional feature, there will be no minimum balance charges for 7esabi accounts, and standing orders form a parent's account to the associated 7esabi account will be free of charge.

A special discounts-and-benefits loyalty programme is also in place for the immediate benefit of 7esabi cardholders. It includes big discounts and savings at shops and outlets of specific youth interest.

Every new 7esabi account holder will be presented an exclusive booklet of 20 buy-one-get-one-free vouchers for use at various, predominately food, outlets, and all active 7esabi account holders will have a chance to be one of two winners of a BD50 cash prize every week.

Bucheerei said 7esabi was introduced in line with Ithmaar Bank's strategic plan, and marked another important step forward in the right direction.

"Ithmaar is firmly committed to becoming the region's premier Islamic retail and commercial bank as we continue to increase our focus on core banking activities," said Mr Bucheerei.

"Ithmaar now boasts one of the largest retail banking networks in Bahrain with 17 full-service branches and 43 ATMs in 26 strategic locations around the kingdom. We will continue to work towards further developing our core retail business in the year ahead with the commissioning of additional new branches as well as the introduction of new products and services," he said.

Ithmaar's achievements have helped earn the bank international kudos, with the bank's Mobicash offering earning multiple awards including the "Best Mobile Banking Service" award at the Banker Middle East Products Award 2013 and the prestigious UN-based "World Summit Award mobile (WSA-mobile)".

Most recently, Ithmaar also earned the Hawkamah Bank Corporate Governance Award, a prestigious regional award, in recognition of its corporate governance policies. – TradeArabia News Service