SURVEY STUDY OF THE AWARENESS ON ISLAMIC BANKING AMONG NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF MALAYSIA (UKM) STUDENTS

Abstract

This study discusses National University of Malaysia (UKM) Bangi campus students' awareness on Islamic banking with 103 randomly distributed respondents based on an 11-item questionnaire and analysed via IBM SPSS 29.0 with acceptable internal consistency of 0.608 (Cronbach’s Alpha) and gendered analysis from Mann-Whitney Test. The objectives of this study are to measure the level of understanding among UKM students on the Islamic banking system; identify Islamic banking products that would be their choices; and analyse students' expectations on Islamic banking system in the future. The findings prove that whilst most students claimed that they were aware of the Islamic banking system and technology, they became more divided as we discuss its future such as the prospect of Islamic banking and its capability to replace conventional banking. However, students also admitted that the top three limiting factors preventing them from becoming customers in Islamic banking institutions in descending order are i) limited knowledge of Islamic banking, ii) the stigma that investment return from Islamic banks are less than that of conventional banks, and iii) religious or cultural reasons.