Best Halal Savings Accounts in the USA (2026)

Three FDIC-insured banks offer halal savings accounts nationwide in the US: Stearns Bank through Salaam Banking, University Bank through UIF and Bank of Whittier. A halal savings account, also called an Islamic or Shariah-compliant savings account, pays you profit from Shariah-compliant financing instead of riba (interest). Here's how the three compare and which one fits what you need.

Key takeaways

• Stearns, UIF and Bank of Whittier all take online applications nationwide and carry FDIC insurance up to $250,000.
• Most scholars consider the interest a conventional high-yield savings account (HYSA) pays to be riba.
• Your profit comes from the bank's Islamic financing and varies with it. Only Stearns publishes its rates online.
• Two community credit unions offer interest-free accounts that pay nothing, with limited membership.
• Apps and funds marketed as halal savings, such as Wahed's Everyday Shariah Account and Goldsand, are investments that can lose value.

Table of contents

1. Our picks for the best halal savings accounts
2. Halal savings accounts in the USA compared
3. How a halal savings account differs from a high-yield savings account
4. Is a high-yield savings account haram?
5. Is a halal savings account just interest with a different name?
6. Are halal savings accounts FDIC insured?
7. Interest-free credit unions
8. Halal savings apps that are really investments
9. Islamic banking in the USA: Chase, J.P. Morgan and Devon Bank
10. What to do with interest you already earned
11. Where to keep savings you won't need for years
12. Summary
13. Frequently asked questions

Our picks for the best halal savings accounts

• Best for a $0 minimum and published rates: Stearns Salaam Market Savings. You can open it with $0, it's the only one of the three that posts its rates online, and Stearns can extend FDIC coverage above $250,000 if you hold a large balance.
• Best for monthly profit and ATM access: UIF Profit-Sharing Savings. It pays profit every month, charges zero account fees and comes with an ATM card.
• Best for branch access and flexible CDs: Bank of Whittier. It has branches in California and Texas, short CDs with fee-free emergency withdrawals and riba-free retirement accounts.

How we chose: we included US deposit accounts that have documented Shariah oversight or an explicitly interest-free structure. We checked each provider's account terms, minimums, deposit insurance and Shariah documents on October 5, 2026. Products that can lose principal are listed separately, outside the rankings.

Halal savings accounts in the USA compared

Account details from each provider's website, checked October 5, 2026. Profit rates change over time and carry no guarantee.

Before you open an account, ask for the current profit rate and early-withdrawal terms. Also ask which tax form the bank issues for profit payments.

Stearns Bank Salaam Banking

Stearns Bank N.A. runs Salaam Banking as its Islamic division and operates nationwide. Its Salaam Personal Market Savings account pays you a share of what Stearns earns on its Islamic financing for businesses and nonprofits: commercial real estate, construction (including mosques and schools), equipment and murabaha (cost-plus sale) financing. Stearns' Islamic financing excludes personal homes, and the bank keeps this money separate from its interest-bearing deposits.

The return is an "Expected Profit Rate" that rises with your balance and can change after you open the account. Stearns posts current rates for its savings accounts and CDs on a rate sheet (PDF). Salaam CDs run 3, 6, 12 or 18 months from $500. The 3- and 6-month CDs pay profit at maturity and carry no early-withdrawal discount, while 12- and 18-month CDs may apply one.

A three-scholar Shariah board chaired by Mufti Ibrahim Essa certifies the Salaam checking and savings accounts with reference to AAOIFI standards. Stearns describes the accounts as profit-sharing.

UIF (University Bank)

UIF (University Islamic Financial) is a subsidiary of University Bank and serves customers nationwide. UIF says its accounts are "structured based on investment agency standards found in AAOIFI standard number 46." In plain terms, you appoint UIF as your agent to invest your deposit in the home, commercial real estate and vehicle financing it originates or manages.

UIF sets an anticipated profit rate based on its expected financing profits and gives it to you in your account agreement when you open the account. Your actual profit can be higher, lower or zero, depending on how that financing performs. Savings pay profit monthly, with zero account fees and an ATM card.

Time deposits run 12, 36 or 60 months from $5,000 and pay profit quarterly. You can't withdraw in the first seven days. To leave early, you close the whole deposit and give up that quarter's profit.

UIF's Shariah board publishes signed fatwas for its savings and time deposit accounts. LARIBA, a US Islamic finance company, merged into UIF on April 1, 2026.

Bank of Whittier

Bank of Whittier calls itself a riba-free bank serving all states. University Bancorp, which also owns University Bank and UIF, bought it on July 1, 2026. It remains a separate bank with its own FDIC certificate.

Its RF Income Generating Savings account lets the bank use your money in any of its riba-free home, auto, business and nonprofit financing. That income first covers the bank's overhead, and the bank splits the remaining net income with you. Its CDs run 3, 6 or 12 months, can pay out monthly and allow fee-free early withdrawals for emergencies.

Its savings account comes without an ATM card, but its checking account has one that's free to use at Citibank ATMs. Bank of Whittier also offers riba-free IRAs and publishes annual Shariah audits.

How a halal savings account differs from a high-yield savings account

The difference is where your return comes from. A conventional HYSA is a loan to the bank. The bank owes you interest under the account terms, even when its own lending does badly, though the rate can change over time.

With the three banks covered here, your return is tied to the profit on the bank's Shariah-compliant financing. The rate the bank quotes is its forecast, and the actual result follows the financing.

Here's a simple illustration with made-up numbers. Say each account expects to pay $300 a year on $10,000.

What happens to your deposit in a loss year depends on the account terms. UIF, for example, says customers can't lose their initial deposit. Separately, FDIC insurance at all three banks covers your deposit if the bank fails.

The contracts in plain English

Is a high-yield savings account haram?

Most scholars say yes, because the return is interest on a loan. The International Islamic Fiqh Academy's Resolution 86 (1995) treats bank current accounts as loans and prohibits interest-paying deposits, naming "savings accounts" explicitly. Its Resolution 10 defines any increase agreed at the start of a loan as riba. Under that view, a higher rate makes no difference to the ruling.

Egypt's Dar al-Ifta holds a minority view. Its fatwa 6615 says a Muslim may follow scholars who permit modern bank returns, while still recommending avoiding disputed matters.

Scholars also differ on keeping an interest-free checking account at a conventional bank. IslamQA treats it as a matter of need, such as receiving a salary or keeping money safe. AMJA (Assembly of Muslim Jurists of America) advises keeping only what you need there and moving any surplus into halal options.

Is a halal savings account just interest with a different name?

It's a fair question, because Islamic profit rates often move with conventional interest rates. An IMF working paper by Cevik and Charap found a 91% correlation between conventional deposit rates and profit-sharing returns in Malaysia and 92% in Turkey from 1997 to 2010.

One mechanism is profit smoothing, described by the Islamic Financial Services Board: a bank can give up part of its own profit share to keep depositor returns competitive with conventional rates.

Scholars read this two ways. One view holds that the contract decides whether a return is halal, so a market-linked forecast leaves a valid contract valid. Critics argue that when the economics mirror a conventional deposit, the difference is mostly one of form.

The terms do differ in one concrete way. At UIF, your profit can fall to zero, while a conventional bank owes you the interest its account terms set. Our halal money market fund guide covers this debate in more detail.

Are halal savings accounts FDIC insured?

Yes. Stearns, University Bank (for UIF) and Bank of Whittier are FDIC insured up to $250,000 per depositor, per bank, per ownership category. FDIC insurance pays out if the bank fails. While the bank operates, your profit still depends on the account.

Some readers ask how this fits Islamic rules, since a bank that manages your money can't guarantee your capital. Islamic finance standards allow a separate, independent party to guarantee it instead. UIF's Shariah board calls FDIC insurance permissible "since the FDIC is a third party to the depositor and the depository institution."

Interest-free credit unions

Two credit unions offer interest-free accounts that pay nothing on deposits. Both are NCUA insured up to $250,000 and limit who can join.

Jafari Credit Union

Jafari Credit Union in Houston funds itself with member fees and gives members interest-free loans. Savings need $200 to open and a $50 minimum balance, and money moves by ACH transfer only. Membership is open to people connected to certain Jafari community centers in Texas and their listed relatives.

The monthly fee is $3 when your savings cover any loans you have, and higher when your loans exceed your savings.

Maun Federal Credit Union

Maun Federal Credit Union in New Jersey was chartered in 2021 as an Islamic faith-based credit union. It offers checking accounts and interest-free loans to members of its partner masjids. Maun has paused new account applications, so check its website for the current status.

Halal savings apps that are really investments

Several products are marketed like savings accounts but invest your money, so your balance can fall. We wouldn't use any of them for an emergency fund. They may still suit money you can leave invested.

Wahed Everyday Shariah Account

The Everyday Shariah Account is a managed investment account that holds one ETF, KWIN. KWIN owns US stocks and uses options to generate income. You can start with $100, and SIPC protection through Apex Clearing covers broker failure, while market losses are yours.

Goldsand

Goldsand calls itself a "Halal High-Yield Savings App." Its terms describe it as software that connects you to decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols, and they say it is not insured by the FDIC or SIPC and that you may lose the total value of your assets. Its site lists endorsements from individual scholars.

Guidance Short-Term Income Trust and Ameen Housing

Guidance Investments runs a private trust that holds Islamic home financing, certified by a Shariah board chaired by Justice (Ret.) Muhammad Taqi Usmani. Guidance markets it to accredited investors. Ameen Housing in California is a members-only co-op that invests mainly in members' homes. Its dividends vary, and investors share any losses.

Islamic banking in the USA: Chase, J.P. Morgan and Devon Bank

Chase savings accounts are conventional accounts that pay interest. J.P. Morgan's Islamic banking serves institutional clients through its Saudi Arabia business, and Chase has no Shariah-compliant savings account in the US.

Devon Bank in Chicago offers Islamic financing, including commercial real estate and equipment financing, and lists only financing products. For an Islamic bank near you, use the three banks above, which all accept online applications from across the US.

What to do with interest you already earned

Scholars generally advise disposing of interest you've already received: give it away to causes such as the poor, public facilities or people in debt, then move your savings into a halal account. Some scholars add that it should go to people other than relatives you already support.

Disposing of impermissible income means giving it up with no expectation of reward, which sets it apart from sadaqah (charity) and zakat (annual obligatory charity). Scholars also rule out using it to pay your own taxes, and they differ on giving it to a mosque. The same idea underlies stock purification.

Where to keep savings you won't need for years

Money you may need on short notice, such as an emergency fund or a near-term purchase, belongs in a liquid, insured halal savings account, with any CD matched to the date you'll need the cash. For money you can leave alone for five years or more, consider halal ways to beat inflation, starting with halal investing.

Our halal investing 101 guide explains the basics, and our list of the best halal ETFs shows diversified options. Zoya screens stocks and ETFs for Shariah compliance, and with Zoya Pro you can buy and sell compliant stocks in the app. Our guide to sukuk covers Islamic investment certificates that pay income.

Your savings also count toward zakat. If your zakatable wealth stays above nisab (the zakat threshold) for a lunar year, 2.5% is due, and the Zoya zakat calculator handles cash alongside your investments.

Summary

Stearns, UIF and Bank of Whittier are the three FDIC-insured US banks offering halal savings accounts, and the right one depends on whether you value a $0 minimum, monthly profit or branch access. Apps marketed as halal savings carry investment risk and belong in a separate part of your plan.

Frequently asked questions