Empirically analyzing public views on participation banks in Turkey

Purpose - This study aims to investigate the participation bankings’ financial services with the Islamic precepts in consideration of the doubts and questions in the minds of the public and religious people on this matter. The study further analyzes the differences between the conventional and Islamic financial services. The PBing, referred to as interest-free banking services, is analyzed in respect to Turkey and the public awareness on these practices are also surveyed empirically to offer some plausible findings and conclusions. Design/methodology/approach - Data in this study are collected via survey method. The participants are picked randomly in the study. The priority of the study is the level of public awareness in terms of education level and financial preference. The findings are further empirically analyzed. The participants have been categorized based on their education level, income level and their religiosity. The significance between the Pearson’s chi-square test and the responses has also been tested. Only significant results have been included in the study. Findings - The findings in the study suggest that the “Islamic” identity of the Islamic finance (IF) institutions has been hurt seriously and that a growing number of people now start considering these institutions as “non-Islamic.” The IF institutions which emerged to respond to the needs of the religious people who are keen to comply with the precepts of Islam have converged to their counterparts in the conventional banking system, particularly in secular countries like Turkey. Originality/value - Some studies focusing on the consumers in Muslim countries reveal that the greatest expectation out of the Islamic Finance is that it will help the Islamic financial thought take root. One of the initial goals of it is to meet the financial expectations of the Muslims who are eager to follow the Islamic rules in their economic activities. But today, whether IF fulfills this major objective remains unclear. This study offers some empirical view on problem. Participation banks are also considered institutions of IF, which is part of the conventional banking system in Turkey. These institutions have been criticized because of the similarities to the banks in the conventional system, the proximities between the interest rates in the regular banks and the profit shares of these institutions and the unpopularity of the profit-loss sharing (PLS). Critics particularly argue that it is not proper to call these institutions “Islamic.” Currently, whether these banks are truly Islamic remains a controversy. This study analyzes the public perception of the IF as IF institutions by reliance empirical findings through survey. For the analysis, a diverse group of participants selected randomly (in terms of age, income, education and religiosity) in Turkey has been surveyed. The significance in the responses to the questions in the survey was measured empirically to draw conclusions based on the responses and the empirical results.