Islamic Banking for Consumers in ‘Stone Ages,’ Barclays Says

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Islamic retail banking is in the “stone ages” as many financial institutions fail to provide services that cater to an increasing number of Shariah-compliant customers, according to Barclays Plc.

Only a “handful of simple” products, such as savings accounts, Islamic loans and debit cards are available to the world’s 1.6 billion Muslims, Harris Irfan, the Dubai-based head of Islamic finance products at Barclays Capital and Barclays Wealth, said in an interview last week. Barclays, the U.K.’s second-largest bank, began offering Islamic retail products such as murabahah deposits, insurance and investment services in 2009, according to the bank.

“A Shariah-compliant customer only gets a fraction of what a conventional customer has access to,” said Irfan. “We’re almost at that Stone Age phase of sticking your money under the mattress.”