The general relationship between a bank and customer is contractual
in nature. For conventional banks, the banker-customer relationship is based
on the debtor-creditor relationship with the bank earning a profit from a spread
made between interest charged on the borrower of funds and interest paid to
the depositors. In Islamic banking, due to the different contractual transactions
of Islamic banking operation, it is based on a multi-contractual relationships.
However, bank consumers perceive that banks enhance their profits by treating
consumers unfairly and failing to take responsibility when things go wrong.
This study examines the duty of care of conventional and Islamic banks towards
bank consumers. It also focuses on the Islamic banks’ duty of care from the
perspective of maqāṣid al-Sharī‛ah, to those who use their services. Adopting
the doctrinal analysis method, this study analyses and compares the duty of
care of both conventional and Islamic banks. Findings of this study include
that misconduct by banking industries remains rife and that unfair treatment of
customers are frequent. As for Islamic banks, the maqāṣid al-Sharī‛ah based
duty of care is found missing in their Islamic banking operation. This study
suggests that the duty of care for both banks should be reformed to improve
bank consumers’ experience. For Islamic banks, an improved standard is useful
in performing their duties based on Islamic values
