A unique banking technique in the service of ethics and sustainability: the “public benefit account”

Abstract

Sharia, as a traditional Islamic law based on the Quran and the Sunnah, clearly prohibits the charging of interest (riba). Islamic financial institutions with specially designed Sharia-compliant procedures have therefore developed the “Public Benefit Account” option to purify interest- based income from transactions prohibited by Sharia (non-halal) and to donate it to charitable purposes. This good practice greatly contributes to the social sustainability of the Islamic banking sector.