Today, bank cards occupy a great deal in our daily lives, spreading so much throughout the world that they have imposed themselves as a means of payment and credit. They are used more than money in some developed countries. Islamic banks do not differ in providing this important service from other traditional banks except in compliance with Sharia law to meet the requirements of their customers.

The Islamic Fiqh Academy has defined the bank cards as a document that is given by an issuer to a natural or legal person based on a contract between them, which enables him to purchase goods or services from ones that accept this document without paying the price immediately based on the guarantee of the commitment of the issuer to pay.

A credit card can be defined as a method of payment that a card issuer gives to its customers to make purchases and/or withdraw cash. The issuer pays  for the transaction and then bills the customer for the amount. The cards are called credit cards as they provide a loan to the customer. “Credit” can be defined as the provision of resources (such as granting a loan) by one party to another party, where that second party does not reimburse the first party immediately.

Credit cards can be used in two ways:

1. Withdrawing cash from an automated teller machine (ATM) : the card issuer gives cash to the cardholder as a loan and asks him/her to repay it on a specific, later date. The issuer charges the customer a cash advance fee which is either a fixed amount, or a percentage of the total loan amount.
2. Buying products or renting a service : here, the issuer pays the purchase amount or the rent amount to the merchant on behalf of the cardholder and considers it as a loan on the customer. The issuer will then ask the cardholder to pay it on a later, specific date. In these kinds of transactions

the issuer does not charge the customer any fee. Instead the merchant is charged a percentage of the total amount.

The bank cards are usually plastic cards of equal sizes with specific international technical specifications so that they are difficult to falsify. These cards are issued by banks within a specific mechanism and specific agreements between them and the international companies that export such cards such as Visa and MasterCard.

Bank cards are divided into credit and other non-credit cards:

1. non-credit cards

It involves providing a service from the bank issuer of the card to an agent only within the balance of its credit account. This category includes the so-called Instant debit cards (debit card), which is given to anyone who has an account with the issuing bank, and can only use it in the amount of its credit. The person can use it whenever he or she wants through ATMs and authorised POS to pay the value of his purchases, withdraw from his balance, and transfer funds between accounts and other banking transactions.

The customer in this type of card is often charged only in the case of cash withdrawals from banks rather than ATMs. There are also some banks that charge the customer a percentage of the purchase price. This type of card is not considered to be a credit card, as it does not involve a loan to the holder and does not count on benefits.

Banks may issue this card as long as the holder withdraws from its balance and the transaction does not entail RIBA-based interest, it does not have a bank loan to the client. The wages that the bank takes on these cards are also an award, whether in exchange for issuance, cash withdrawals or payment for purchases, whether they are for a lump sum or a percentage of the amount withdrawn or the purchase price, because these fees are for the services provided by the bank. The taking of them does not entail a legitimate prohibition.

An instant debit card may also be used to purchase gold and what must be arrested in Sharee’ah because the deduction of money from the buyer and its entry into the seller’s account is done immediately upon purchase.

2. credit cards

These cards involve granting credit from the issuing bank to the cardholder so that the latter can withdraw cash or pay for purchases of goods and services within the limit of the card, regardless of its balance. The bank pays the amounts owed by the customer when it is used for the card and then prompts the customer to pay these amounts. These cards are therefore called credit cards see the fact that they include a loan.

This type includes the following cards:

1. monthly charge card:

The customer in this type of card can withdraw cash or pay for purchases and services regardless of the availability of sufficient balance or not, and not exceeding the card ceiling granted to him. These are cards that require the bearer to pay the amounts due at once without an increase, after an agreed grace period, usually ranging from thirty to sixty days. If the customer is late in paying what he has after this period, it entails RIBA-based interest (in traditional banks).

These cards constitute a credit instrument within a certain limit for a given period. The card system does not provide a revolving credit facility to the customer, and it pays for purchases during the specified period, so it is also called non-revolving loan cards.

These cards are permissible provided that the card contract does not include a fine when the cardholder is late to pay the bank because it is considered riba. The cardholder must not use it for cash withdrawals if the bank takes a proportional commission for each withdrawal, or a lump sum that exceeds the actual cost of the transaction. The explanation is that the credit card cash withdrawal is in sharia adapted as a bank loan (Qard) to the cardholder, so the bank may not take interest on this loan because it is RIBA. However, it may take wages as much as the cost it carries to complete this process, i.e. the cash withdrawal fee is a fixed amount and in the limit of the actual cost. The customer is required not to deal with the card in contravention of Sharia law.

The monthly charge card may be used to buy gold because the bank register the price to the seller as soon as the sale is made.

2. Evoving Credit card :

It is similar to the credit card, it is not necessary for the customer to have an account with the issuing bank of the card and, if he has one, no credit is required to use the card. The cardholder in this type is given a higher credit limit with the absolute freedom to pay immediately or in monthly installments, in return he has to pay interest on credit he used for the agreed period, so that the customer – cardholder – is able to use it as long as he pays the interest accrued on the money on a monthly basis.

This card features features:

• It is a real tool for obtaining a loan.
• It is not required to have a bank credit.
• Additional cards can be requested for family members.
• The card holder can purchase the goods and services using the card, or with the account number.
• The owner can withdraw cash from the ATM within its credit limit.
• The interest is imposed on the cash withdrawal from the first day until full payment, and the debt arising from the purchase of goods and services, the card holder can choose between paying the debt in full in the Interest free Period, or paying a fraction of the due payments, and rounding the remainder to subsequent repayment periods In installments with interest.
• This card is characterized by the imposition of compound interest with a delay fine on the repayment of the debit amount, and these interests may be double the usual interest of bank loans, which increases by the duration, imposing for each late monthly payment, interest on the original amount and on the interest also, the higher the term the higher the interest.
• If the due amount is not paid for a certain period, the card will be discontinued, the cardholder will be prosecuted by the competent agencies, or the judiciary.

Evoving Credit cards may not be issued because the debt increases in duration, which is RIBA. This is why Islamic banks are not issuing them.

The most notable differences between debit cards and credit cards are as follows:

• The debit card owner cannot withdraw or buy more than his credit, because his card is directly related to his credit, and the purchase value of the goods or services is transferred from the customer account to the merchant’s account, unlike the credit card, which is not tied to the balance of the card holder, he even may not have an account in the issuing bank.The latter in this case depends on the issuer’s confidence in the card holder’s financial solvency, and its ability to pay at the time of payment.
• If The owner of the debit card withdraws from the balance or buys with his card, he is not considered a debtor of the bank for the value of withdrawing or buying, because he paid for the debt in full or partially, unlike the credit cardholder, it is considered a debit to the bank as much as to withdraw or buy, and the issuing bank is a lender to the cardholder with that amount.
• Debit card is considered to be an instant payment debit card, whereas credit card is a deferred payment card, whether it is a one-time payment, or a payment in the form of installments, by rotating the debt.

The merchant does not pay any fees if the buyer uses the debit card, whereas in the credit cards case, the merchant/seller pays a commission to the bank, estimated at a percentage of the invoice value.