AOA Mufti Sahab,
Hope you and your team is fine. I wanted to ask a question relating credit card. In KSA there is a bank by the name of SABB(Saudi Arabia British Bank). With their credit card, if I do shopping in certain stores I can convert my total bill into monthly installments for up to 12 months with 0% interest. But they charge a fixed amount for Administration/Processing fees, which is around 200 Saudi Riyal on the total bill amount. Kindly tell me if I can take benefit from this feature or not.
Below is the link for the website’s installment plan page:
https://www.sabb.com/en/everyday-banking/compare-credit-cards/sabb-card-offers/sabb-aqsat-installment-plans
Jazak Allah Khair.
In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
As-salāmu ‘alaykum wa-rahmatullāhi wa-barakātuh.
We have studied the 0% AQSAT Instalment plans scheme offered by SABB bank on the website in reference.
It is permissible to pay administration fees subject to certain conditions. However, in the enquired situation one should avoid using this facility/benefits as SABB charges multiple processing fees to the cardholder. The cardholder will be charged the following fees throughout the plan which are not purely administrative costs. [i] [ii]
1) Late payment and non-payment fees.
2) 50 riyals processing fees on each SABB 0% AQSAT conversion.
3) A cancellation fee of 100 riyals or 5% of the value of the transaction that has been converted to an AQSAT, whichever is higher, per every AQSAT plan.
And Allah Ta’āla Knows Best
Checked and Approved by,
Mufti Ebrahim Desai.
__________
[ii] Contemporary Fatawa of Mufti Taqi: pgs 245-246
THE USE OF CREDIT CARD
In principle, the usage of a credit card is permissible based on need and necessity on condition one is certain of abstaining from interest and late payment fees. The fees charged by the credit card company is only validated in exchange of an equal service provided and not in exchange of the credit provided as that would entail interest and hence prohibited.
جدید فقہی مباحث: ۱۰/۶۴۰، ۶۴۶، ۶۴۸، ط اشاعت
کریڈٹ کارڈ کے احکام