Smiles World Elite 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 733.95Reversed on spend of AED 50,000 on purchases in 12 months.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' / 'Late payment fee will be 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 and 1.5 Smiles for every AED 2 spent domestically
• 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

• Access to over 1,300 VIP airport lounges around the globe
• Up to 10% back on hotel bookings at Booking.com
• Cleartrip airline discount
• Luxury serviced apartment discounts
• Hertz Gold Plus Rewards Five-Star membership
• Discounted fast-track travel visa service
• MyUS premium shipping discounts
• Travel inconvenience and cancellation insurance
• Travel medical insurance
• World Elite Concierge
• Avis car rental and chauffeur services
• Mastercard Golf Program
• Free card replacement

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 standalone World Elite tariff PDF states a non-AED administration fee of 2.625%, while the June 2026 Key Facts Statement states 2.5% for all three Smiles cards. The newer Key Facts figure is recorded here; treat 2.5% vs 2.625% as an unresolved discrepancy.

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.

• “Annual fee(1) AED 733.95 … (1) Reversed on the total spend of AED 50,000 on purchases during the year by Smiles World Elite card — Smiles World Elite tariff (we-tariff...pdf)”
• “2 Reversed on Spends of AED 50,000 in 12 months — Smiles Covered Card-Key facts, Schedule of Charges footnote”
• “Late payment fee(2) AED 236.25 … (2) Late payment fee will be donated to charity — Smiles World Elite tariff”
• “Card replacement fee Free — Smiles World Elite tariff / Smiles Covered Card-Key facts (World Elite column)”
• “Murabaha profit rate / month 2.49% — Smiles World Elite tariff”
• “Earn three point of Smiles for international use and 1.5 points of Smiles for domestic use for every 2 AED spend on the card — Smiles Covered Card-Key facts, World Elite “Smiles” Card features”
• “Administration fee for non - AED transactions(3) 2.625% — Smiles World Elite tariff (conflicts with 2.5% in the June 2026 Key Facts Statement)”
• “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