An Empirical Investigation of the Reasons of Financial Needs and Preference of Islamic Banking Customers in Türkiye

Abstract

Many interest-free financial organs are operating in a similar system all over the world, especially in Muslim countries. Islamic banks are banks that operate in the financial sector, support the real economy, and offer banking services. Islamic banks collect funds from savers, make them available in industry and trade sectors according to interest-free financing ethics and share profit or loss with savers. Alternative financing systems are one of the issues discussed in recent years to reduce the problems arising from the traditional banking system, which has become controversial especially with the recent crises. One of these alternatives is Islamic finance practices. As in all the world, the rising market share in Turkey is increasing interest in the bank. This study aims to guide banks in product development by using data mining techniques in Islamic banking in terms of being a service enterprise. For this purpose, a face-to-face survey was conducted with 212 customers registered at 5 branches of an Islamic bank. In the study in which decision tree methodology is conducted, the satisfaction, needs, and expectations of the bank are determined according to the different characteristics of the customers (socio-economic factors, financial and Islamic literacy levels etc.). From this point of view, product and policy development suggestions were brought to Islamic banks according to customer characteristics.