The concept of islamic banking in Sri Lanka: perspective of islamic bank customers in Colombo

Abstract

Islamic banking as an alternative banking and finance method is one of the fastest growing industries in the world.With double digit growth rate, the operations of Islamic Banks had been accepted and adopted in more than 75 countries. In Sri Lanka, Islamic Banking and Finance operations started in late 90`s. Since then this industry is growing in term of Islamic Financial Institutions, customer base as well as asset value. Even though the growth had been slow in Sri Lanka compared to other countries still the industry claims that their penetration in the market had been gradual and stable. The purpose of the study is to explore the concept of Islamic Banking among the Islamic Banking customers. The Objective of this paper is to explore whether the Islamic Banking customers are aware of the fundamentals of Islamic Banking. The methodology used is anexploratorydescriptive study. Sample sizes of 150 Islamic Banking customers in Colombo district were selected for this study. Research findings show that the Islamic Banking customers are aware of the concept of Islamic Banking, and are positive and futuristic about the Islamic Banking in Sri Lanka. This study contribute significantly to understand the Islamic Banking customers and is the first study in this nature in Sri Lanka