Is Visa Stock Halal? Understanding the Riba Question

Quick Verdict

Visa (V) is classified as DOUBTFUL to NOT COMPLIANT by most Islamic screening agencies. While Visa itself doesn't lend money or charge interest, it operates as the backbone infrastructure for interest-bearing credit cards — and earns fees on transactions that include credit card spending, which facilitates riba.

What Visa Actually Does

This is a key distinction: Visa is NOT a bank. Visa doesn't issue credit cards, doesn't lend money, and doesn't charge interest. Visa is a payment network — it connects banks (card issuers) with merchants through a technology platform and earns transaction fees.

So when you use a Visa credit card and pay 18% APR interest, that interest goes to your bank — not to Visa. Visa earns a small processing fee (typically 0.1-0.3%) regardless of whether you carry a balance.

The Islamic Finance Debate

Here's where scholars disagree:

View 1 (Permissible): Visa is a technology company providing a neutral payment rail. The same rails are used for halal debit transactions, halal business payments, and halal purchases. The riba issue is between the cardholder and their bank — Visa is a distant intermediary that enables all types of transactions neutrally.

View 2 (Not Permissible): Visa's network is primarily built for and earns most of its revenue from credit card transactions. Credit cards are instruments of riba. By processing these transactions and earning fees on them, Visa is participating in the riba ecosystem. This makes Visa's revenue stream fundamentally connected to interest-based finance.

Financial Screening

• Debt / Market Cap: Very low ✅
• Interest Income / Total Revenue: Minimal (Visa itself doesn't lend) ✅
• Business Activity: Payment processing for credit — ⚠️ disputed

Screening Agencies' Verdict

• Zoya App — Not Compliant ❌
• MSCI Islamic Index — Excluded ❌
• SPUS ETF — Not held ❌
• Islamicly — Not Compliant ❌

Bottom Line

Despite not being a bank, Visa's business is fundamentally intertwined with credit card infrastructure. The mainstream Islamic finance verdict is to avoid it. Investors seeking payments exposure might consider fintech companies focused on debit infrastructure, digital wallets, or buy-now-pay-later platforms that don't charge interest.