DURBAN - Diners Club has announced that it is now offering its South African customers a personal global charge card that complies with the Shari’ah principles.
In what will be a world first for Diners Club charge card offerings, the Shari’ah compliant Diners Club card will, like conventional Diners Club cards, be accepted at millions of merchant points in 185 countries across the globe.
“The card will bring the bespoke convenience of an internationally accepted charge card to our clients who have been demanding innovative Shari’ah compliant products, specifically within the lifestyle space. They will be able to use the card to complement their lifestyles knowing with certainty, that they will be doing so while maintaining Shari’ah compliance,” says Mohammed Ameen Hassen: Head of Shari’ah Banking at Standard Bank.
To be Shari’ah compliant, the services offered on the card have been structured to ensure that no interest, either to the issuer or user, is payable on transactions. Most of all the traditional services that the Diners Club card offers are available on the Shari’ah card and those elements that were not compliant were removed. Amongst the benefits offered to users are bespoke Hajj and Umrah packages, Islamic tour travel offers, and other benefits.
What makes the introduction of the new charge card exciting for the market is that it meets the needs of customers who were looking for either a short-term personal cash-flow management facility for consumption or lifestyle purposes, but also a truly global lifestyle benefits card. The new card offers all this, while maintaining Shari’ah compliance. Users therefore need not look any further than this world-first from Diners Club and Standard Bank Shari’ah Banking.
Lesego Chauke-Motshwane, Managing Director of Diners Club Pan Africa, says that the introduction of the card is an important step in bringing the advantages offered by Diners Club charge cards to an important market segment.
"In South Africa, across Africa and the world, the Muslim market is financially significant. Shari’ah compliant cards are becoming more common in countries around the world. The Diners Club card launched here is the first to be globally accepted by more than 38 million merchants across the world," said Chauke-Motshwane.
According to Standard Bank, thus far, the response from the community has been overwhelmingly positive knowing that there are now innovative products available that can fulfil and support their lifestyle and cash-flow management requirements all while maintaining Shari’ah compliance.
"This card is unlike anything on offer in the current South African environment. It is the first Shari’ah compliant charge card in South Africa and the first Shari’ah compliant product from Diners Club International," said the bank.