Chairman of the Board and General Manager of Bank of Palestine Mr Hashim Al-Shawa and General Manager of Palestine Islamic Bank Nidal Al-Barghouti signed an MoU the first of its kind to provide the Palestine Islamic Bank with credit and debit cards. The signing ceremony took place at Bank of Palestine main HQ in Ramallah on 18 February 2013 and was attended by Board Member Mr Mazen Sonokrot, Palestine Islamic Bank Regional Director Mr Imad Al-Saadi, Bank of Palestine Board Member Maher Farah, Bank of Palestine Assistant General Manager Mr Hani Nasser, and heads of departments, branches and section in both banks.
Pursuant to the MoU Bank of Palestine, which is the key member in VISA and MasterCard Corporations, will undertake the issuance of credit and debit cards to the Palestine Islamic Bank in its capacity as a subsidiary member. The MoU will enable the Palestine Islamic Bank to provide its customers with credit and debit cards services within a short time period since the cards will be locally issued Bank of Palestine, unlike other banking institutions which issue cards overseas.
The Sharia Supervisory Board of the Palestine Islamic Bank has approved the legitimacy of the bank to deal with credit cards utilizing a special work mechanism and stipulating the cards are to be used as a credit and fulfillment tool within a specific financial limit for a specific time period. Holders of the cards can use them to pay for goods and services they receive and withdraw cash within the open credit limit, noting that the cards do not offer holders revolving credit facilities. Holders must pay for all purchases within the time period specified in the statement sent to him by the bank.