Working at bKash (mobile money system in Bangladesh)

10-9-2017 | IslamWeb

Question:

Please answer quickly and do not refer to another fatwa. "bKash" is a mobile money system in Bangladesh operating under the jurisdiction of the Bangladesh Central Bank as a subsidiary of BRAC Bank, a local interest-based bank. The service aims to serve users at the bottom of the economic pyramid (BOP) ensuring a broader range of financial services across Bangladesh’s population as a whole. The service uses a USSD interface, accessible via a basic handset, and offers no cashing-in fee and low cashing-out and person-to-person transfer fees. Registering for bKash and cashing-in services is free of charge. For person-to-person transfers, customers pay a flat fee of BDT 2 (or $.02) irrespective of the size of the transaction. In case a customer wants to cash-out, there is a flat fee of 1.85% on the amount withdrawn. For example, if a user wants to cash-out BDT 50, the cash-out fee is BDT 0.92 (or $.01). Is working in this company allowed or not?

---

Answer:

All perfect praise be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.

As long as the activities of the mentioned company are lawful and have nothing to do with the interest activities of the bank to which it is affiliated, then it cannot be said that it is prohibited to work in such a company. The fact that the company charges fees in return for the services it provides such as the withdrawal or transfer of money does not affect the religious ruling in this regard. Hence, it is allowed to work in this field, Allah willing.

Allah knows best.