Darul Ifta Ibn Masood

Charging A Fee When Swiping A Card

· 2 Safar 1446 AH1 min readEnglish

Question

Small-scale businesses accept bank cards as a method of payment. However they have a minimum of R30 or R50 spend in order to swipe. I visited a store and bought two items to the value of R29. I asked the cashier if I could swipe and he said yes. Thereafter, before payment, he told me that he will add on R1 (I assume for bank charges) to the transaction (because they don’t swipe under 30 rand). I agreed. Is this type of a transaction permitted in Shari’ah?

Answer

Charging a fee for swiping a card is permitted with the proviso that the shop owner does not charge more than the amount that he is being charged by the bank. He informed you (the customer) of his charges before proceeding with the transaction and you agreed to it, hence the transaction was in order.

Answered by
Mufti Mohammed Desai Saheb
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Source: Darul Ifta Ibn Masood — https://fataawa.co.za/charging-a-fee-when-swiping-a-card/
Fatawa SA: https://fatawa.co.za/fatwa/ibnmasood-33971

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