Islamic banking in the United Kingdom: Lloyds launches sharia business account

[Marulus]

Lloyds launches sharia business account

Podcast: Islamophonic, the Guardian's Muslim podcast, looks at the issue of sharia compliant banking. Click here to listen

Staff and agencies
Tuesday April 3, 2007
Guardian Unlimited

Lloyds TSB has today become the first mainstream bank to launch a sharia-compliant business account.The Islamic Business and Corporate account is the latest financial product to be run in line with sharia principles. According to Islamic law, bank accounts should not pay or charge any form of interest. Funds held in the account will be ringfenced and not invested, the bank said.
The service - which is aimed at the UK's estimated 100,000 Muslim firms - follows on from the growth of Islamic mortgages and personal loans in recent years.
Lloyds offers a range of Islamic finance services, including the recently launched sharia student account, while HSBC's Amanah banking service offers sharia-compliant equivalents to mortgages, and personal bank accounts.Lloyds TSB said the new service for Muslim businesses will be available throughout its network of 2,000 branches.
Truett Tate, group executive director of wholesale and international banking at Lloyds TSB, said: "The entrepreneurial spirit in the UK is truly something to be proud of, and Muslim businesses are making a phenomenal contribution to this through their creativity and incredible work ethic.
"Britain is rapidly establishing itself as a centre of Islamic finance and Lloyds TSB has been at the forefront of this growth."
Shazia Saleem, a 23-year-old Muslim entrepreneur establishing a halal food business, welcomed today's launch.
She said: "It means a lot to me that I now have the option of banking in line with my faith.
"Islam is a way of life for me and I know that once I have got my business off the ground it is going to be a huge part of my life, so it is important that I am comfortable with every aspect of the way it is run.
"Until now aspiring Muslim entrepreneurs have had limited choices when it comes to financing their business ideas and I know this has held some people back."

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[Franze]

The great capitalism selling to islam, how beautiful!!!