Smiles 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

AED 525No annual fee for Excellence Banking cardholders.source

Supplementary card

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

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. Cash withdrawal capped at 80% of card limit.

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 78.75

What you get back

• Earn 50,000 bonus Smiles for spending AED 20,000 within 90 days of card issuance
• Earn 3 Smiles for every AED 2 spent internationally
• Earn 1.5 Smiles for every AED 2 spent locally
• Earn 0.75 Smiles for every AED 2 spent on education, government services, utilities, supermarket, petrol/service stations, real estate agents, quick-service restaurants, insurance, auto dealers, public transport, road tolls/salik and charities
• Earn 0.3 Smiles for every AED 2 spent in European Economic Area (EEA) countries

Other benefits

• Free unlimited access to over 1,300 VIP airport lounges worldwide (Mastercard Travel Pass)
• Up to 10% back on hotel bookings at Booking.com
• Cleartrip travel ticket discount
• Luxury serviced apartment discounts
• Hertz Gold Plus Rewards Five-Star membership
• Discounted fast-track travel visa service
• Redeem Smiles for flights on 300+ airlines with no blackout dates and no cash payment for taxes or surcharges, and stays at 300,000+ hotels

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.
• The AED 525 annual fee is only waived for SIB Excellence Banking customers — there is no spend-based waiver.

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.

• “Murabaha profit rate 2.49% monthly, 29.88% annually — Smiles Covered Card-Key facts, Schedule of Charges (SIB/Cust-092/V1/June/2026)”
• “Annual fee — World AED 525(3); footnote 3 'No annual fee for Excellence Banking Cardholders' — Smiles Covered Card-Key facts”
• “Earn 50,000 Bonus Smiles for spending AED 20,000 within 90 days of card issuance — Smiles Covered Card-Key facts, World “Smiles” Card benefits”
• “Earn 3 Smiles for every AED 2 spent internationally — Smiles Covered Card-Key facts”
• “Earn 1.5 Smiles for every AED 2 spent locally — Smiles Covered Card-Key facts”
• “Earn 0.75 Smiles on transactions categorized under education, government services, utilities, supermarket, Service/petrol stations... for every AED 2 spend on the card — Smiles Covered Card-Key facts”
• “Earn 0.3 Smiles for every AED 2 spent in Countries which are a part of the European Economic Area — Smiles Covered Card-Key facts”
• “Free access to over 1300 VIP airport lounges around the globe — Smiles Covered Card-Key facts”
• “Cash back up to 10% back on your hotel bookings at Booking.com. — Smiles Covered Card-Key facts”
• “Annual fee AED 525 — Schedule of Charges, WorldTM (smiles-world-tariff_2024.pdf, May 2026)”
• “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