An overview of the operations/products offered by Islamic banks in Pakistan

Abstract

Islamic banks are striving to capture the maximum number of customers to compete with conventional banks by providing a large number of products as an alternative for interest based products. There is a clear difference between operations/products offered by Islamic and conventional banks. Islamic banks are offering interest free products according to Shariah principles to promote business and trade in the country. This study presents an overview of operations and products offered by Islamic banks especially in Pakistan. Islamic banks provide a variety of products according to principles of Shariah to cope with the challenges of the recent age. These products may be categorized as short-term, medium-term and long-term according to their specific characteristics. It also reflects a brief picture regarding performance of Islamic banks in Pakistan since 2002. This study contributes a lot towards existing literature by beautiful reflection of operations and products of Islamic banks as bank-customer relationship for provision of quality services. It also presents the popularity and progressive products offered by Islamic banks in Pakistan. It could enhance the understanding of customers, bankers, policy makers and academicians. This study provides an insight regarding products/operations of Islamic bank that enables the researchers, academicians and policy makers to explore the ways to realize the potential benefits of Islamic banking. Key words: Islamic banking, operations, products, Pakistan.