Smiles Excellence World Covered Card

What makes this card Islamic

Sharjah Islamic Bank builds this card on a Murabahah contract. The bank buys the thing you want, then sells it to you at a stated cost plus a stated profit, payable later.

SIB calls these 'Covered Cards'. The Shariah opinion (Internal Shariah Supervision Committee, Arabic PDF) describes a combined-contract (uqud murakkabah) structure: the bank buys National Bonds/sukuk, sells them to the customer under a Murabaha (tawarruq) contract, the customer's agent sells them back, and the proceeds are deposited into a Wakala bi-al-Istithmar investment account that becomes the card's 'cover' (spending limit). The customer pays a fixed monthly Murabaha profit instalment; the unutilised Wakala balance earns the customer a Wakala profit. At the due date the bank nets the two, and if the customer pays the full outstanding the bank gifts (hiba/bonus, i.e. ibra') the difference back so no profit is paid.

Approved by Internal Shariah Supervision Committee (ISSC), under the supervision of Central Bank of the UAE.

What it costs

Every figure below comes from Sharjah Islamic Bank’s own published documents. Where the bank does not publish a number we say so rather than estimate it.

Annual fee

No annual feeHeld by an SIB Excellence Banking customer.source

Supplementary card

AED 0Free; immediate family only, up to 4 free cards.

Profit rate

2.49% a month on the outstanding balance29.88% a year as stated by the banksource

Cash withdrawal

3.15% of transaction amount, minimum AED 78.75.

Late payment

AED 236.25Stated as 'Commitment To Donate' — donated to charity.

Foreign currency spend

2.5% on top of the exchange rate

Replacement card

AED 0

What you get back

• Earn 3 Smiles for every AED 2 spent internationally, except EEA and specific merchant transactions
• Earn 1.5 Smiles for every AED 2 spent locally, except specific merchant transactions
• 50,000 bonus Smiles offer

Other benefits

• 8 complimentary visits to 1,300+ airport lounges (Mastercard Travel Pass)
• Luxury serviced apartment discounts
• Apple Pay and Samsung Wallet

Before you apply

• Rewards were revised effective 5 July 2026: 'Specific Merchant Categories' were reclassified and a separate, much lower EEA earn rate was introduced.
• 'Specific merchant' categories — education, government services, utilities, supermarkets, petrol/service stations, real estate agents, quick-service restaurants, insurance, auto dealers, public transport, road tolls/salik and charities — earn at a heavily reduced rate.
• Murabaha profit is charged on the full card limit as a fixed monthly instalment, offset by the Wakala profit on the unutilised balance; only a payment in full cancels it out.
• The AED 236.25 late charge is a 'Commitment to Donate' amount paid to charity.
• This is the Excellence Banking segment presentation of the Smiles World card — it links to the same Smiles World tariff PDF and the same Smiles Key Facts Statement. The only substantive differences found on the bank's own pages are the fee waiver and a stated 8 complimentary lounge visits rather than unlimited.

Can you get it?

Minimum income

AED 5,000 a monthsource

Age

21 and over

Other conditions

UAE Central Bank criteria: minimum age 21, minimum monthly income AED 5,000, maximum Debt Service Ratio 50% of gross salary (30% for pensioners). Salary transfer is not stated as mandatory.

What to have ready

• Application form
• Passport & Emirates ID copy
• Valid residence visa for expats
• Proof of income / salary slip

Where these figures come from

Last checked against Sharjah Islamic Bank’s published documents on 2026-08-17. Banks change fees without notice, so treat the bank’s own document as the final word, not this page.

• “3 Smiles for every AED 2 spend internally except EEA and Specific Merchant transactions — SIB Smiles Excellence World Mastercard page, features and benefits”
• “Earn 1.5 Smiles for every AED 2 spend locally except Specific Merchant transactions — SIB Smiles Excellence World Mastercard page”
• “8 Complimentary access to 1300+ airport lounges, download the Mastercard Travel Pass app — SIB Smiles Excellence World Mastercard page”
• “3 No annual fee for Excellence Banking Cardholders — Smiles Covered Card-Key facts, Schedule of Charges footnote”
• “Minimum age of the customer to be 21 years. — Key Facts, Financial Terms and Required Documents”
• “Minimum monthly income of the customer to be AED 5,000. — Key Facts, Financial Terms and Required Documents”
• “Maximum Debt Service Ratio (total monthly obligations towards financial facilities as a component of monthly income) should not exceed 50% of monthly gross salary (30% for pensioners), 5% of which is related to your minimum Covered Card monthly payment — Key Facts”

• Product page
• Schedule of charges
• Terms and conditions