(Sukuk.net - The Peninsula) Pak-Qatar Family Takaful Ltd (PQFTL) and Meezan Bank Ltd, Pakistan's largest Islamic Bank, have signed an agreement whereby all customers of Meezan Bank's Housing Finance (Easy Home) will be provided with Shariah-compliant Life Takaful coverage.

Irfan Siddiqui, President and CEO of Meezan Bank Ltd and P Ahmed, CEO Pak-Qatar Family Takaful signed the agreement at a ceremony in Karachi yesterday.

According to the agreement all housing finance customers of Meezan Bank will be provided comprehensive Takaful that will cover not only life but also accidental and natural disability.

Speaking on the occasion, Siddiqui said that Meezan Bank has always focused on coming up with Halal Riba-free products and innovative facilities for its customers and the Takaful arrangement with PQFTL is another step in the direction of making Islamic Banking the banking of first choice.

P Ahmed noted that the Takaful agreement with the country's pioneering Islamic bank, will pave the way for numerous benefits for its customers.

He said that Pak-Qatar Family Takaful is always looking for ways to provide value added products to the people of Pakistan. "By joining hands with Meezan Bank we would be able to reach out to many people who would otherwise not have had the benefit of a customer centric and Shari'ah-compliant risk mitigation tool."

Pak-Qatar Family Takaful, he said, has the financial strength and expertise to safeguard investments and meet the long-term investment needs of the people in Pakistan. "We are rapidly expanding our distribution network in order to achieve our vision of providing financial protection to everyone, through Takaful," he added.

Pak-Qatar Family Takaful, the pioneering of Family Takaful company in Pakistan, is sponsored by leading financial institutions in the State of Qatar and FWU AG. The company has wide geographical reach in the country and is quickly growing in its corporate and individual customer base.

Meezan Bank has successfully completed its 7th year of operations as a commercial bank and at present has 166 branches in 40 cities across Pakistan. All branches are 'on-line' and are supported by state-of-the-art 24/7 Banking services to all its customers, which include over 140 ATMs, Internet Banking and Call Center that operates 24 hours a day seven days a week.

By Nasser al Harthy
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