Keynote Address, 2010 Islamic Finance Conference, Rendezvous Hotel, Melbourne

"The customer is at risk and the bank is at risk, and in order to achieve that it's not a debt relationship, it's more like a partnership relationship," Asad Ansari says. But that's been hard to achieve in Australia's mainstream banking system. Melbourne couple Melike Yildirim and Ibrahim Atik are some of the Australian consumers who have been swapping over to the Islamic finance sector in recent years.

But then we’d have to do the same for everyone and try to represent all the different religions, which would be impossible. While there are several foreign banks in Australia, including the Arab Bank and HSBC, few of them offer Islamic home loans. However, Westpac and National Australia Bank have introduced Sharia-compliant products to the market. Earlier this month, Islamic Bank Australia received its banking licence from APRA. While it is a restricted licence, it marks an exciting movement for financial inclusion and ethical offerings in our local banking and financial services sector. MCCA is Australia’s leading Shariah compliant finance and investments provider.

Stimulus programs, including the Building the Education Revolution, are estimated to have contributed around 0.4 of a percentage point to GDP growth for the quarter. While our economy slowed significantly during the global downturn, Australia weathered the crisis better than most other advanced economies. I am delighted to be here today to talk about the future of Islamic Finance in Australia – a topic that is gaining increasing relevance as Australia seeks to become a regional financial centre. We are a Restricted ADI and do not yet meet the full prudential framework, and you should consider this before banking with us once we are open for business. We acknowledge the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the first Australians and Traditional Custodians of the lands where we live, work and bank.

Even during these challenging times their team are willing to help. We have now provided more than $300 million of Islamic finance to customers nationally and our presence has grown across Australia with representatives in each state. Our Low Doc products may be the perfect solution for self-employed business owners who do not have the standard financials.

“There are developers that we work with that in the past just haven’t used any bank finance so we deliver projects with 100 per cent of their own equity,” said managing director Amen Zoabi. “Interest-free banking was non-existent in Australia, but it did exist in Canada where I had previously been studying,” he said. When Professor Ishaq Bhatti came to Australia 30 years ago, the bank teller looked bemused when he asked for a savings account that didn’t accrue interest. Under Islamic law, or Sharia, there is a prohibition on charging or paying interest, which is called riba and considered exploitative because the lender does not assume a share of the risk.

MCCA has long supported the Bachar Houli Foundation, with the new community partnership set to extend the relationship and support the development of more role models in the Islamic community. If you have concerns or in need of financial help,get in touch with our team today. If you have any concerns or in need of financial help, get in touch with our team today.

Confirm details with the provider you're interested in before making a decision. This alternative method of obtaining a home is designed to better align with Sharia law to offer Muslims a means of pursuing home ownership without offending their religious values. Look for a lender that offers weekly, fortnightly or monthly payments so you can arrange your payments to suit your income.

We’re working as fast as we can to achieve our full ADI licence and bring our products to the Islamic community and all Australians,” Mr Gillespie said. The report concluded Australia has arguably the most efficient and competitive financial sector in the Asia-Pacific region, but there are further opportunities to expand our exports and imports of financial services. Australia is highly regarded internationally as a place to do business.

Interest-based home loans that dominate our market generally allow people to borrow money from a bank, buy a house with that cash, Islamic Bank In Australia and then pay the money back over a fixed term to the financier with interest. After a successful pre-assessment a finance executive will prepare your application for submission. The information we request will vary depending on your personal circumstances and includes documents to support income, deposit or equity, assets, liabilities such as current mortgages, car loans, credit cards etc. In establishing Amanah our objective was to address the absence of a Shariah compliant home financing solution that met the standards of globally recognised Shariah scholars whilst also complying with Australian laws and credit regulations. Ijarah Finance was established to help you purchase a property without entering into an interest-based mortgage.

Saving People from Riba

Please be aware that this might heavily reduce the functionality and appearance of our site. It’s a totally new way to think about banking,” said Mr Gillespie. Islamic finance is based on a belief that money should not have any value itself, with transactions within an Islamic banking system needing to be compliant with shariah . The rise of Islamic banking is just the beginning of a much larger discussion around ethical banking and financial inclusion, one which banks have struggled to stay on top of for years, if not decades to now. The challenge lies in keeping up with the pace that society is changing — and technology is at the forefront for influencing those societal changes.

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"We've recognised that the Islamic finance industry has grown at a rate of about 15 per cent since the 1990s," NAB's director of Islamic finance, Imran Lum, tells ABC News. But in the past decade, he has been taking out more Islamic loans, including one just a few months ago to expand his company's meat-processing ability. Yet, despite making an Australian gastronomic icon, over the years the small business owner has felt excluded from the country's financial system and investment opportunities. The couple also intentionally avoids mainstream interest-based loans. When they wanted to buy a new car, they saved up and bought it outright. The complication in the Australian context is that laws aren't set up for this style of lending, so technically the home is owned by the household from the beginning, but with a legal agreement that the Islamic lender is entitled to it.

Overall, very good customer service and will definitely recommend it. I have had a great experience at Amanah Islamic Finance so far. They were organised, very professional and have excellent customer services. If you are going to make an offer at a private sale please ensure your lawyer requests a “subject to finance” period. Ultimately, we want to bring our Shariah compliant products to the grass roots of our community and we have leading representatives in each state that can assist you. Islamic finance differs considerably from regular finance, as charging interest on loans is not allowed under Islamic law.

He leads a local team of industry specialists who together aim to create frictionless customer experiences through the application of digital touchpoints. Earlier this year, our digital engineering team at Mobiquity delivered an Islamic bank prototype with online car finance ("Murabaha") to support the growing global Muslim community. I’m afraid we may not be able to provide you with an answer to that question. The accounting treatment will be determined by the lender/bank that offers the Islamic Home Loan.

Our goal at Mozo is to help you make smart financial decisions and our award-winning comparison tools and services are provided free of charge. Instead of the typical interest earning products, Islamic Bank Australia will offer a lease-to-buy model for home loans and a profit pool for term deposits. And at the big end of town, one of the country's largest banks, NAB, is launching a specialised financing product for Islamic business customers, which the company believes is an Australian first for banking. To help them become an ADI, Hejaz have appointed three new staff to their leadership team. Andrew Oey, once of Bank of Melbourne and Bankwest, will join as head of lending, with experienced insurance and financial services operator Samrah Sahi coming on board as head of customer service.

Having recently received our restricted banking licence, this role is part of a small team bringing new banking products to the Australian market. Gus is passionate about developing, designing and implementing digital products and services to help businesses across Australia accelerate innovation at the pace of customer expectations. However, with technology rapidly evolving, banks and financial institutions are challenged with having to innovate at the pace of the customer — and perhaps even more difficult, their expectations for delightful experiences. Such restrictions not only impact the bottom line of banks and financial service providers, but so too, do they have a negative impact on the quality of life for Australian Muslims. It could be argued that the latter is more important to creating a thriving, inclusive society and has a bigger impact on the economy in the long term. Providing or obtaining an estimated insurance quote through us does not guarantee you can get the insurance.

We acknowledge the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the first Australians and Traditional Custodians of the lands where we live, work and bank. We do not currently meet the full prudential framework and/or requirements, and you should consider this before depositing funds with us. After the completion of our “restricted” phase, we plan to obtain APRA’s approval so that we can publicly launch. Digital Banking Technology Digital First experiences in banking brings together the innovation and capabilities of the latest technologies. Ethical banking is in our DNA; we make ethical decisions in whatever we do.

Islamic home loans enable you to finance your property purchase with a different financial product that doesn't accrue interest in quite the same way. However, Australia’s credit laws still apply and the lender will still charge you for borrowing money. On 13 October 2010, the Board of Taxation released itsdiscussion paper on the reviewof the taxation treatment of Islamic finance, banking and insurance products.

Saving People from Riba

Our goal at Mozo is to help you make smart financial decisions and our award-winning comparison tools and services are provided free of charge. However, no matter how it is worded, not all Muslims see the Islamic finance banking institutions as true followers of Sharia. Instead, say critics, they are the same as the banks they claim to offer an alternative to, still taking in profit and cloaking "interest" under a different name and using external funders that don't practice Sharia.

“With the number of Muslims in Australia growing by more than 6 per cent every year, we’re excited to be bringing this new type of banking to the Australian community,” said Islamic Bank Australia CEO Dean Gillespie. Fixed cost development, licensing and hosting fees for the use of financial calculators, key fact sheets and research. Islamic law says that interest can’t be charged or paid on any financial transaction. Mr Gillespie also said that Islamic banks were inherently ethical, refusing to deal with certain industries. “With the number of Muslims in Australia growing by more than 6% every year, we’re excited to be bringing this new type of banking to the Australian community,” said Islamic Bank Australia CEO Dean Gillespie. Mr Gillespie was formerly Head of Home Loan Distribution at Commonwealth Bank, and Head of Mortgages at Bankwest.

Islamic finance might be relatively new to Australia, but it’s an important part of the Islamic belief system and has existed for as long as the religion itself. And at the big end of town, one of the country's largest banks, NAB, is launching a specialised financing product for Islamic business customers, which the company believes is an Australian first for banking. Interest-based home loans that dominate our market generally allow people to borrow money from a bank, buy a house with that cash, and then pay the money back over a fixed term to the financier with interest. Canstar is an information provider and in giving you product information Canstar is not making any suggestion or recommendation about a particular credit product or loan. If you decide to apply for a credit product or loan, you will deal directly with a credit provider, and not with Canstar.

The offer includes employment at NAB and has an aim of improving the bank's understanding of Islamic banking. "At the moment, there isn't a great awareness about Islamic banking in the Muslim community," he says. "Once you have those resources and services, word will spread, branches will open up in every city and a domino effect will start." The MCCA and other Islamic finance lenders often define the amount of money they take above the purchase price as profit. Since "interest" is forbidden, the word is avoided in most cases, although the Australian government still requires it to be used in the paperwork.

Founded in 1989, MCCA is the first and one of the leading providers of Islamic finance in Australia, a small but growing market. There's little competition other than a few others such as Sydney-based Iskan Home Finance. While Islamic finance has taken off in some Western countries such as Britain and the United States, it's still relatively small here. Aykan says there are about 1,500 MCCA members, which is slightly under 2% of the estimated 80,000 Muslim families across the country. Describing Islamic banks as similar to a partnership where both the bank and the customers share the benefits, Mr Gillespie noted that they were also inherently ethical.

The LVR ratio refers to the amount of the property value or purchase price you can borrow from the lender. A loan with a high insured LVR allows you to borrow funds without paying lenders mortgage insurance . With its current APRA restricted licence, Islamic Bank Australia can only have a limited number of customers in 2023.

Murabaha, an Islamic term, is defined as a transaction where the seller discloses the cost of its commodity, then adds some profit thereon, which is either a lump sum or based on a percentage. "Research shows that Muslims as well as non-Muslims view returns as a more important factor in a financial transaction," says Shanmugam. "This variable outweighs religion in terms of importance for patronising types of banking. Therefore, unless people see actual benefits in terms of returns, the extent of patronisation will be nominal."

Islamic home loans: How do they work and how do you get one?

The way it works is that the financial institution mortgages the property and charges you an amount that you pay in rent. The more funds you repay, the more ownership you have in the property until it is paid off in full. Keep in mind that just because the institution doesn’t charge interest, doesn’t mean it doesn't charge a profit. The financial institution still makes a profit from leasing the property to you. InfoChoice will not accept liability for incorrect information.

Our growing community is proof of the respect that both Splend and its members have for Islam, and should give you the confidence to be a part of it and start boosting your income. But Dr Choudhury said the biggest demand for Islamic finance is for home loans. "I tell my students that resharing is critical for equitable economic growth in a country. Since the fundamentals of Islamic finance are based on resharing, interest from Western stakeholders is growing," he said. "In my view, there should not be two types of banking in the same bank, you cannot mix haram and halal," he said. Talal Yassine is an experienced business leader, entrepreneur and academic. In an executive capacity and for over two decades, Talal has straddled the worlds of business, finance and law.

A number of Australian financial institutions have examined Muslim financing concepts such as profit sharing and rent to buy while trying to avoid terms such as "interest" in contractual agreements. InfoChoice is one of Australia’s leading financial services comparison website. We've been helping Aussies find great offers on everything from credit cards and home loans to savings and personal loans and more for over 25 years. Canstar is a comparison website, not a product issuer, so it’s important to check any product information directly with the provider.

Dr Imran Lum, Director Islamic Finance in NAB’s Deal Structuring and Execution team said; “We’re really proud to be able to offer such a valuable service to Australia’s Muslim community. If you need to explore your options, you may want to speak to a mortgage broker. They have the necessary knowledge and experience to help you find the best lender that meets your needs, preference, and budget.

However, this will depend on how the financial institution determines the profit made on the sale. The fundamental difference between a typical home loan and a Sharia-compliant home loan is in the borrowing terms used (i.e. interest with a typical home loan vs rental or profit fee with an Islamic home loan). “Ours is a common mortgage transaction that’s fully functional. The bank has security over the property, which means that if the borrower defaults on their home loan, the lender can enforce a sale of the property to recover the outstanding funds that are owed. Another financing company, Hejaz Financial Services, which is already in the home loan and superannuation space, says it has also just started the process of applying for a R-ADI.

He believes the big opportunity for Australia is setting up mechanisms that can allow offshore companies to invest here. "I'm very grateful that this is allowing me to grow my business," he says. "A lot of people that we know that are Muslims have gone with conventional ways." One area the sector is tapping into – with some logistical wrangling – is consumer home loans, like those taken out by Melike and Ibrahim.

Matthew Williamson, vice-president of global financial services at Mobiquity, commented the opportunity is ripe for the taking with an emerging generation seeking banking solutions that meet their