Bank Muamalat Malaysia has refuted claims that it had refused to accept a customer’s cheque as it is “non-halal”.
Banking operations head Muhamad Radzuan Rahman said the bank had initially rejected the cheque as the payee’s name is not the same as registered in its system.
“Let me make it very clear: there is no such thing as a halal or non-halal cheque.
“We are a licensed financial institution that provides banking services, including cheque clearing, and it is our responsibility to accept any cheque.
“That particular cheque was initially rejected due to a technical reason,” he said, after meeting with Lobak assemblyman Chew Seh Yong.
Chew had last week asked if the bank had rejected an RM1,500 cheque for Wah Chai Association from a religious organisation because it is non-halal.
Radzuan said the cheque had been deposited at a deposit box and the Wah Chai official did not interact with any bank officer.
“When we got the cheque, we wanted clarification on the source and purpose of the donation as required under the Anti-Money Laundering Act.”
Subsequently, the cheque has been cleared, he added. – TMI