Keith Leach

Demand for Islamic finance at all-time high, bank reports




Al Rayan Bank has revealed that applications for two of its home finance plans reached an all-time high in 2016, as demand for Islamic finance soared.

Both the bank’s home purchase and buy-to-let purchase plans – which see customers acquire the bank’s share of the property through a monthly payment and rent the unowned portion of the house – received a record number of eligible enquiries last year.

This surge follows a 9% rise in applications to the bank in 2016, marking a 99% increase over the past five years.


Applications for Al Rayan's home finance plans have soared

Keith Leach, chief commercial officer at Al Rayan, said: “In recent years we’ve worked hard to ensure that ethical, Sharia-compliant banking products are as accessible as possible to customers of all faiths.

“We’re therefore very pleased that our products, and Islamic banking in general, is clearly becoming an established part of British retail banking.

“There is still substantial room for growth in this market and we expect demand to continue to rise in the coming years.”

Home finance is not the only area of growth for Al Rayan, with the value of Islamic savings in 2016 rising 47% compared with the previous year.

These savings – or ethical profit-sharing agreements that avoid interest – have risen in value by 449% since 2012.

Al Rayan estimates that 94% of its fixed-term deposit customers who joined last year are not of the Muslim faith.

The announcement comes just weeks after Al Rayan launched a Sharia-compliant buy-to-let range in Scotland.

1 Comments

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    Leo

    Just a marketing scam. Islamic clients have been borrowing money from the non-believers for decades and have made profit. Even now, if the rate is good and the lender is flexible, non of our islamic clients care.

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