Among the ruined reputations of the financial world, there is one banking system that has emerged claiming the moral high ground.

Islamic finance - which rules out the payment of interest - largely avoided the risky investments and trading of debt that prompted the credit crunch.

Banks offering Sharia-compliant accounts and selling Islamic mortgages say they are reaping the benefits.

Institutions such as the Islamic Bank of Britain say they were attracting more customers and business - by no means all of them Muslim - even before the credit crunch.

Encouraged by their new reputation, a group of such institutions are taking their show on the road this week - first stop Leicester - offering a range of services.

They include, for the first time, Sharia-compliant car insurance - which works by insurers paying their “premiums” into a shared pot, out of which claims are taken.

Among the ruined reputations of the financial world, there is one banking system that has emerged claiming the moral high ground.

Islamic finance - which rules out the payment of interest - largely avoided the risky investments and trading of debt that prompted the credit crunch.

Banks offering Sharia-compliant accounts and selling Islamic mortgages say they are reaping the benefits.

Institutions such as the Islamic Bank of Britain say they were attracting more customers and business - by no means all of them Muslim - even before the credit crunch.

Encouraged by their new reputation, a group of such institutions are taking their show on the road this week - first stop Leicester - offering a range of services.

They include, for the first time, Sharia-compliant car insurance - which works by insurers paying their “premiums” into a shared pot, out of which claims are taken.

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