Abstract
Digital wallets are gaining popularity in recent years. Besides convenience, the promotional offers provided by these wallets are among the primary reasons for people to be attracted to use the wallets. This chapter explores Shariah permissibility of these promotional offers. The chapter finds that the money kept in digital wallets can be looked at from two different perspectives, and the Shariah opinion on the permissibility of promotional offers will vary according to the perspective. The chapter argues that if the money kept in digital wallets is considered as a loan-based deposit (qard), then the promotional offers or additional benefits provided by the wallets are not permissible, unless the benefits are fully discretionary. However, the chapter also argues that the money does not hold its original form as soon as it is credited to digital wallets, that is, money transforms into a new form of digital currency. In this case there may not be any Shariah issue on the additional benefits received. The paper also identifies several issues related to digital wallets that require further research.
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Ahmed, M.U., Tarique, K.M. (2021). The Opportunities of Digital Wallets from an Islamic Perspective. In: Billah, M.M. (eds) Islamic FinTech. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-45827-0_15
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-45827-0_15
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