A Sharia’h Perspective of Minimum Account Balance Requirement in Islamic Banking

Abstract

Banks charge fee on saving and current accounts or downgrade them when the balance drops below a threshold point. This could be justified in conventional banking on pure business grounds; however, it is an issue of concern in Islamic banking because of the underlying Shari’a (Islamic Law) issues in this practice. While some Islamic banks charge incidental fees, as practiced by conventional banks, on accounts with low balances, others simply stop paying profits on such savings accounts and some even downgrade them by stopping some of the free services. This conceptual paper addresses the Shari’a aspect of such practices in Islamic banking. The paper first presents a broader picture of Islamic banks’ practices in relation to this issue and then explores relevant Shari’a principles. The current market practices are then analyzed in light of Shari’a principles. The