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Is it permissible for a remittance company to take a percentage from international transfer companies like Western Union, given the existence of a current account that may make it a creditor or a debtor? And what is the ruling on working with this system, which might lead to the prohibited act of "loan and lease"?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

First: It is permissible to charge a fee for a bank transfer, and this is interpreted as an agency for a fee.

Second: It is permissible to transfer funds between money transfer companies while taking a percentage of the transfer fees. This is not considered to be the prohibited combination of "loan and sale," for the funds remaining after disbursement are a trust and not a loan. The prohibition specifically concerns combining a loan with an exchange. It is permissible to combine a loan and a sale if it is not conditional, meaning that the loan is not stipulated for the transaction of the sale. As for the existence of a prior debt, it does not prevent a sale or exchange contracts. What is prohibited is stipulating a loan in a lease, such as a company requiring a deposit in exchange for a percentage of transfer fees. However, if the fee is for the borrower, then it is permissible to combine a lease and a loan, even if it is conditional.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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