Dar Al Sharq, the publishers of the Arabic daily Al Sharq and The Peninsula, in cooperation with Altas-heelat Islamic Finance Company, a subsidiary of Qatar International Islamic Bank, is holding a unique three-month shopping festival - The Instalment Festival from November 4.
The festival provides an opportunity to people in Doha to make their dream purchases on easy instalments, and that at no extra cost. There are no interest or levy on the instalment premiums for the first 12 months.
General Manager of Al Sharq Printing, Publishing and Distribution Abbas Al Mulla said that the idea behind organising the festival was to boost the local market by increasing the volume of sales through making it easier for residents of Qatar to buy high value items.
Dar Al Sharq will pay for the purchase made by the shopper to the participating company immediately.
"The easy payback facility of interest free monthly instalments will allow a large number of people to purchase things, which are otherwise beyond their budget, from any of the participating company," he added.
General Manager of Altas-heelat Finance Abdulla Al Emadi said the idea was unique. "It is a pioneer idea and it will inspire the Qatar commercial market," said Al Emadi. He praised Al Sharq for coming up with such innovative and inspiring projects. This festival, he said, will ensure a golden opportunity for shoppers to indulge in trouble-free buying. "It will surely enthuse shoppers and company owners," he added.
Altas-heelat Finance has been involved with the festival with Al Sharq from the planning stage. The festival comprises two separate campaigns.
First Campaign
The financing in the first campaign ranges from QR2,000 to QR16,000 and the settlement period is 12 months divided into 12 equal instalments. A shopper can however, opt to pay back in fewer instalments. The number of cheques to be given in advance will depend on the number of instalments.
The offer is open to those working in reputed private companies and government departments. The amount will be based on applicant's salary. A minimum salary limit is fixed at QR2,000 for Qataris and QR2,500 for non-Qataris. There is no need for a guarantor, regardless of the bank they deal with. The shopper needs to produce only a bank statement of last three months in addition to ID card and company ID card.
Second campaign
Under second campaign finance purchase ranging from QR16,000 up to 40 times the salary of an applicant; the amount will be divided into 12 month instalments. This campaign is also open to those working with reputed private companies and government departments. The finance will be based on the applicant's salary. The shopper needs to produce only a bank statement of last six months in addition to ID card and company ID card.
In case of shopper wishing to extend the payback period, the company will provide special option where there will not be any charge for the first 12 months. For the period exceeding the 12 months additional cost will be added to the payback amount. For this option the shopper will have to directly deal with Altas-heelat Islamic Finance.
"For example, the instalment period can be extended to 60 months for merchandise, 72 months for vehicles and for real estate the payback period can be extended to 82 months," Al Emadi explained.
The same is applicable to International Islamic Bank customers' shares where the payback period can extend up to 84 months, in addition to a grace period of 6 months. The company will follow up on customers' ID cards to verify their capacity to payback.
The amount of excitement the festival has generated can be gauged from the tremendous response Al Sharq and The Peninsula offices have received form local business houses and shoppers.
"Al Sharq has vast experience in administration and organisation of different festivals. Many companies have indicated its strong desire to participate in the event and has proposed to cut a portion of the load off the shoppers. The readers' response was equally prompt, which demonstrates the degree of their trust in the festivals organised by the Al Sharq group.
This was clear from the vast number of telephone calls the newspapers received enquiring about the festival. Some of the readers even visited the companies, which advertised their participation in the festival in Al Shraq and The Peninsula, to ask about price and the offers," Al Mulla said.
"Since Al Sharq does not have the financial expertise required to process the application, we contacted and tied up with Altas-heelat Islamic Finance Company, one of the affiliate companies of International Islamic Bank, to handle the financial side of the festival. It is a professional company and the cooperation with them will boost the success of the event," Al Mulla said.
Altas-heelat Islamic Finance will handle all financial aspects of the event like verifying the financial status of potential shoppers at the festival, also verification of their cheques etc.
© The Peninsula 2004
