Dubai Bank has launched a sharia-compliant credit card just months after selling off its old credit card portfolio to a unit of Dubai Holding.

The bank has started issuing Visa credit cards that conform to Islamic principles. This means it will not allow the holder to conduct transactions in places such as casinos or liquor stores.

The card is called the Islamic Covered Card and has a profit rate of 1.5 per cent a month.

The credit card market in the UAE is growing 25 per cent a year at present, and Dubai Bank's old business previously had 80,000 card holders. The target is 10,000 customers by the end of 2007, according to chief executive officer Abdul Aziz al-Muhairi.

Previously, Dubai Bank had a 3.2 per cent share of the credit card market, which Dubai Holding wants to expand to 6 per cent by the end of 2007.