How are the fees and balance requirements Sharia-compliant?
The Sharia Supervisory Board at Nomo Bank was consulted on charging a 9 GBP fee to the current account if the aggregate balance falls below the minimum decided by the bank, namely, 20,000 GBP or equivalent, noting that the bank will give clients a 3-month fee-free period after joining.
The Sharia Supervisory Board views that there is no objection in collecting account fees should the account fall under the £20k balance requirements, to cover the banks expenses, such as managing the accounts, maintenance of systems and internal and external requirements from regulatory authorities. These fees are considered in exchange for the work and services performed by the bank. There is no Sharia objection that prevents Nomo from collecting these fees and commissions. It is not usury (Riba) or suspicion of usury (Riba).
In the case of the current account, the bank is considered a debtor and not a creditor. What is forbidden is for the debtor to pay an amount in excess of the debt. To conclude, these fees and commissions are not considered to be in excess of the debt.