I have had accounts with 5 different Islamic Banks in different contries over the years and have found Qatar Islamic Bank to be really good, Qatar International Islamic Bank to be not so good. There are also some real differences between conventional and Islamic banking
1) If you get a car or house loan and pay it off early Islamic banks won't charge you a penalty, in fact they will refund you money. This is to do with the terms of the loan according to Islamic law.
2) Islamic banks are a lot more lenient if you are late on an installment, Islamic law does not permit them to keep compounding interest payments if you fall behind.
3) Some Islamic banks in Qatar like Qatar Islamic Bank will give foreigners loans to buy houses abroad.
4) Because Islamic law does not permit them to invest money in all that toxic debt stuff, their investments have been safer than conventional banks which means I have been getting higher returns on my savings account even when the rest of the banking world is sinking.
I know there is a new website to be launched in a few weeks ShariahOne.com which should be very helpful when it comes to answering questions about Islamic banking
I have had accounts with 5 different Islamic Banks in different contries over the years and have found Qatar Islamic Bank to be really good, Qatar International Islamic Bank to be not so good. There are also some real differences between conventional and Islamic banking
1) If you get a car or house loan and pay it off early Islamic banks won't charge you a penalty, in fact they will refund you money. This is to do with the terms of the loan according to Islamic law.
2) Islamic banks are a lot more lenient if you are late on an installment, Islamic law does not permit them to keep compounding interest payments if you fall behind.
3) Some Islamic banks in Qatar like Qatar Islamic Bank will give foreigners loans to buy houses abroad.
4) Because Islamic law does not permit them to invest money in all that toxic debt stuff, their investments have been safer than conventional banks which means I have been getting higher returns on my savings account even when the rest of the banking world is sinking.
I know there is a new website to be launched in a few weeks ShariahOne.com which should be very helpful when it comes to answering questions about Islamic banking