Opening a Bank Account with a Riba-Based Bank If There Is No Neccessity?

Answered by Shaykh Abdul-Rahim Reasat

Question

I have a both a debit and credit card with the TD Canada Trust bank. My debit card is a student chequing account and I don’t earn any interest on it. I’ve read that you are allowed to deposit money in a riba-based bank if there is no alternative and it’s a necessity. I am being 100% provided for by my father and I have no dependents. Would keeping a debit card to deposit money in the case that I’m gifted money or get some online job(I have no need for a job, however) or for buying things that I do not need still constitute as a necessity that would make depositing money in a riba-based bank permissible or is this haram for me?

Answer

It is permissible to have and use a bank account with a bank that deals with riba, as you are only depositing your money there. The ideal situation would be an account that doesn’t accrue interest.

If, however, they do deposit interest into your account, you should remove it and give it to any poor person to get it out of your possession. Given this, one should avoid long-term savings accounts that are set up to maximise the interest that one can gain from them.
(Usmani, Fiqh al-Buyu’)

May Allah grant you the best of both worlds.
[Shaykh]Abdul-Rahim Reasat

Checked and approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Shaykh Abdul-Rahim Reasat began his studies in Arabic Grammar and Morphology in 2005. After graduating with a degree in English and History, he moved to Damascus in 2007, where, for 18 months, he studied with many erudite scholars. In late 2008 he moved to Amman, Jordan, where he continued his studies for the next six years in Sacred Law (fiqh), legal theory (Usul al-fiqh), theology, hadith methodology, hadith commentary, and Logic. He was also given licenses of mastery in the science of Quranic recital, and he was able to study an extensive curriculum of Quranic sciences, tafsir, Arabic grammar, and Arabic eloquence.