Linking Islamic credit card to peer to peer lending platform

Abstract

The expansion of the Islamic banking worldwide is one of the most noticeable financial events through the last three decades. In order to achieve the predicted success for it, Islamic banking needs to stay innovative to reach a higher market share of the financial industry in the world. Islamic credit card as a new innovative offered by many Islamic banks as well as dual banks (conventional/Islamic), is surrounded by a huge debate because of several reasons. One of these reasons is the mechanism of Islamic credit card that differs from a bank to another and from a country to another, however, all the underlying contracts that support Islamic credit card are being criticized, where the call of a new mechanism is raised. This research is exploring the feasibility of creating a new mechanism for Islamic credit card based on qard hasan contract applies through the crowdfunding platform, particularly peer to peer lending platform, after examining tawarruq as one of the most used mechanisms of Islamic credit card. Following a qualitative methodology applied by conducting twelve semi-structured qualitative interviews, selected based on specific criteria, targeting Shariah scholars working in banks and bankers involve in product development process. The main results of the research; there is a misapplication of the Islamic finance, most participants are against the use of tawarruq for Islamic credit card, there is a need to create a new mechanism. Finally, there is a possibility of linking Islamic credit card to crowdfunding platforms, with the existence of some conditions.