Fatwa #322216 June 2001Pakistan
Is it considered interest if the retailer charges me a fee for paying via credit card?
Question
Is this interest? Whenever I re-fuel my car, I pay through credit card, but they charge me 2.5% more. The reason for this is that the bank charges them this much of money, and they take it from their customers so as to save their costs. Please advise me if this extra money is interest or not?
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
As-salāmu ‘alaykum wa-rahmatullāhi wa-barakātuh.
No, the 2.5% surplus is not interest. It is the commission charged by the credit card issuing company/bank for facilitating the transaction. [i]
And Allah Ta’āla Knows Best
Mufti Ebrahim Desai
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[i] Uthmani, Taqi (Mufti). Contemporary Fatawa, pg. 246. Idara-e-Islamiat 2001.