Maybank Islamic RTO scheme now open to public

PETALING JAYA: Maybank Islamic Bhd’s rentto-own (RTO) scheme, dubbed HouzKEY, is now open to the public for application.

The scheme was first launched last November whereby it was only made available to Maybank employees.

The bank said in a statement that since the launch, it has recorded about 13,000 visits to its portal and 2,000 of them have indicated interest on the product.

Close to 70% of them are from the target age group of between 25 and 34 years old.

Through the portal www.Maybank2own. com, the public can now browse through a range of properties by 12 established developers which include EcoWorld Bhd, SP Setia, Mah Sing Properties, Sime Darby Property, Gamuda Properties, UEM Sunrise, Selangor Dredging Bhd, and Mitraland. It is expected that seven more developers will come on board by the end of this month.

Maybank Islamic said HouzKEY has been designed to provide an alternative solution for home ownership through an innovative scheme which only requires three months of rental deposit and the customer can immediately move into their dream house.

“The customers are given the option to purchase the property after renting for at least one year at a pre-agreed price.”

HouzKEY is the first such RTO homeownership plan in the country to be fully enabled on a digital platform, with the application and submission of supporting documents all being done online.

Once an applicant chooses a property on the online portal and applies to rent it under HouzKEY, the bank will provide a decision within 24 hours working day, following which the customer must make the three-month rental deposit within seven days.

After the agreement is signed, the property is locked in at a fixed rental price for five years and the customers can migrate to Maybank mortgage seamlessly after one year of renting, or they can continue renting with 2% step up on the 6th year until their tenure end.

Maybank Islamic CEO Datuk Mohamed Rafique Merican said the bank will continue to focus on creating more innovative Shariahcompliant solutions and developing products and services leveraging on Maybank group’s strength and expertise in Islamic finance.

“HouzKEY promotes financial inclusion by offering an alternative path to home ownership. We take pride that it is the first of such product offering in the market,” he said.