Bank charges

Why have banks been deducting three percent service charge from credit/debit card consumers when each card-holder pays his or her Rs3,000 subscription fee annually and repays the principal amount used as well as high interest of 36 percent? This service charge seems more like usury than interest.

Surprisingly, large retailers like petrol pumps, departmental stores, etc, do not deduct three percent extra service charge. However, small and medium retailers either flatly refuse to accept credit/debit card for payments or reluctantly accept them – charging three percent extra to do so. Can the finance ministry clear this dichotomy and ensure that banking, if it is not Islamic at the moment, be progressively made as close to the tenets of Islam as possible?

Azhar Hussain Shamim

Lahore