Hidden Riba in Buy Now Pay Later Fee Structures: A Fiqh Muamalah–Maqashid Shariah Analysis

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Authors

  • Rida Faujiah Department of Accounting, STIE Gema Widya Bangsa, Bandung, West Java 40623, Indonesia image/svg+xml
  • Khoirun Nizar Department of Accounting, STIE Gema Widya Bangsa, Bandung, West Java 40623, Indonesia image/svg+xml
  • Yuni Silvi Anjani Department of Accounting, STIE Gema Widya Bangsa, Bandung, West Java 40623, Indonesia image/svg+xml
  • Liya Setiawati Department of Accounting, STIE Gema Widya Bangsa, Bandung, West Java 40623, Indonesia image/svg+xml

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.69725/jies.v2i3.377

Keywords:

Buy Now Pay Later, Hidden Riba, Fiqh Muamalah, Maqashid Shariah, Islamic Fintech

Abstract

Purpose – This study examines the potential emergence of hidden riba within Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) fee structures by evaluating the economic substance of financing charges, service fees, handling charges, and late-payment penalties. It investigates whether these cost components represent legitimate compensation or function as concealed returns on indebtedness, using an integrated fiqh muamalah and maqashid shariah perspective.

Design/methodology/approach – A qualitative descriptive-analytical approach is employed through documentary and doctrinal analysis. The study draws on regulatory provisions, Sharia rulings, contractual disclosures, primary Islamic sources, and peer-reviewed academic literature. The data are analyzed using directed content analysis, thematic analysis, comparative interpretation, and deductive-inductive reasoning to assess each cost component according to its underlying akad, relationship to debt and deferment, economic countervalue, transparency, and allocation of financial benefit.

Findings – The findings indicate that PayLater cost components cannot be classified uniformly on the basis of their contractual or commercial labels. Their Sharia characterization depends on the economic function of each charge, the underlying akad, its linkage to principal and tenor, the existence of genuine countervalue, and the transparency of the transaction. Potential hidden riba arises when charges described as service, administrative, handling, or penalty fees effectively reproduce returns generated by indebtedness or the passage of time. Contractual opacity may further create gharar and weaken the protection of wealth, prevention of harm, justice, and maslahah.

Originality/value – This study contributes to Islamic economics and digital finance literature by developing a fee-level substance-over-label framework for evaluating BNPL transactions. Rather than relying on a binary product-level halal–haram classification, the framework distinguishes legitimate trade or service compensation from potentially concealed debt-based returns. By integrating fiqh muamalah with maqashid shariah, the study extends contemporary Sharia analysis toward a more substantive assessment of akad reconstruction, cost transparency, Sharia governance, and consumer protection in digital financing.

 

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Author Biographies

  • Rida Faujiah, Department of Accounting, STIE Gema Widya Bangsa, Bandung, West Java 40623, Indonesia

    Rida Faujiah is affiliated with the Department of Accounting, STIE Gema Widya Bangsa, Bandung, West Java, Indonesia. Her research interests focus on Islamic accounting, fiqh muamalah, Sharia-compliant financial reporting, and the ethical dimensions of contemporary Islamic economic transactions. She is particularly interested in how digital financing innovations—including Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) schemes—can be evaluated through the substance-over-label principle of Islamic commercial jurisprudence, and how classical concepts such as riba, gharar, and hilah al-riba can be operationalized to assess modern fintech products.

  • Khoirun Nizar, Department of Accounting, STIE Gema Widya Bangsa, Bandung, West Java 40623, Indonesia

    Khoirun Nizar is affiliated with the Department of Accounting, STIE Gema Widya Bangsa, Bandung, West Java, Indonesia. His academic interests include Islamic accounting, Shariah governance, digital financial literacy, and the application of fiqh muamalah principles in contemporary financial practices. His research emphasizes the importance of transparency, contractual clarity (tawdhih al-'aqd), and prudent cost disclosure in both formal and informal Islamic financial arrangements, particularly in the rapidly evolving digital consumer credit landscape.

  • Yuni Silvi Anjani, Department of Accounting, STIE Gema Widya Bangsa, Bandung, West Java 40623, Indonesia

    Yuni Silvi Anjani is affiliated with the Department of Accounting, STIE Gema Widya Bangsa, Bandung, West Java, Indonesia. Her research focuses on auditing, Shariah compliance assessment, risk management in Islamic financial systems, and consumer protection in digital financial platforms. She is particularly interested in how Shariah supervisory mechanisms and regulatory frameworks can safeguard consumers against potentially exploitative cost structures and hidden forms of riba in emerging fintech products such as PayLater.

  • Liya Setiawati, Department of Accounting, STIE Gema Widya Bangsa, Bandung, West Java 40623, Indonesia

    Liya Setiawati is affiliated with the Department of Management, STIE Gema Widya Bangsa, Bandung, West Java, Indonesia. Her research interests encompass Islamic management, financial inclusion, digital economy, and the socio-economic dimensions of Sharia-compliant business practices. She has a particular interest in the development of ethical and inclusive financial ecosystems that align with maqashid al-Shariah—especially hifz al-mal and hifz al-nafs—in the context of digital consumer financing and community-based mutual assistance.

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2025-12-10

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Vol. 2 No. 3 (2025): December

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How to Cite

Faujiah, R., Nizar, K., Anjani, Y. S., & Setiawati, L. (2025). Hidden Riba in Buy Now Pay Later Fee Structures: A Fiqh Muamalah–Maqashid Shariah Analysis. Journal International Economic Sharia, 2(3), 171-184. https://doi.org/10.69725/jies.v2i3.377
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