THE CURIOUS CASE OF RIBĀ ’S MUTED ROLE IN BANK SELECTION CRITERIA AMONG MUSLIMS IN KLANG VALLEY, MALAYSIA

Purpose – Arguably, the most significant difference between conventional and Islamic banking is the prohibition of ribā (interest)—besides gharar (uncertainty) and maysir (speculation). Naturally, it is questioned whether ribā is the make-or-break selection criterion for Islamic banking customers in Malaysia. Consequently, this study examined the moderating effect of ribā knowledge on the nexus between the already widely researched bank selection criteria (i.e., service quality, corporate reputation, cost and benefits, and technology) and bank selection among Malaysian Muslims. Design/Methodology/Approach – This research is quantitative, cross-sectional and non-experimental. It uses structured questionnaires to acquire and understand bank selection criteria and the moderation effect of ribā among Malaysian Muslims. The sample comprised 244 Muslim customers with loan/financing accounts in banks in Klang Valley, Malaysia. This study uses exploratory factor analysis and structural model analysis for data analysis. Findings – The findings reveal three criteria—notably, corporate reputation, cost and benefits, and technology—that exhibit a significant correlation with bank selection. Despite the strong injunctions against ribā , it failed to moderate the relationship between bank selection criteria and bank selection. Additionally, the subsequent importance-performance test indicates that ribā knowledge holds lower significance compared to the three significant criteria. Therefore, the authors believe there is a strong possibility that Malaysian Muslims, specifically in Klang Valley, may not factor the prohibition of ribā into their banking selection decisions. Research Limitations/Implications – The items measured for knowledge of ribā have not been widely tested and are not designed to assess the level of religiosity of the respondents nor the awareness of Islamic law behind the prohibition of ribā . Nevertheless, this paper provides insight into the level of knowledge about ribā among Muslims in Klang Valley, Malaysia and its possible moderating effect on bank selection. Future research could extend this work and examine the knowledge of ribā with respect to the level of respondents’ religiosity and/or the awareness of Islamic law behind the prohibition of ribā . Practical Implications – Religious authorities, non-government organisations and Islamic banks could leverage these insights by uplifting and broadening public education, especially for the Muslim community, on the actual meaning of ribā and its implications in their lives and the hereafter. Originality/Value – The lack of studies focusing on the subject of ribā , its practice in conventional banking, and its prohibition in Islamic banking has often been overshadowed by research studies on adoptions and perceptions of Islamic banking and finance, which may have led to the negligence of its importance in choosing Islamic banking over conventional banking among Muslims in Malaysia.


INTRODUCTION
As a multi-racial and multi-ethnic country, Malaysia practices a dual banking system consisting of both conventional banks (CBs) and Islamic banks (IBs). IBs in Malaysia operate under either one of the following three models: Islamic windows (e.g., Citibank and UOB), Islamic subsidiaries of a conventional parent bank (e.g., CIMB Islamic and RHB Islamic) or full-fledged IBs (e.g., Bank Islam Malaysia Berhad and Bank Muamalat Malaysia Berhad). Naturally, availability of a dual banking system in Malaysia provides more choices and alternatives for consumers-Muslims and non-Muslims alike.
The precursor to Islamic banking, conventional banking typically operates on ribā (interest)-based deals. Although there is no specific legal provision to prohibit Malaysian Muslims from patronising ribā-based banking, at least from the Sharīʿah (Islamic law) perspective, conventional banking is haram (impermissible) for Muslim consumers. It is because the use of traditional loan contracts in conventional finance virtually eliminates risk sharing, i.e., risk transfer in which banks guarantee both the principal and the interest on customers' deposits. In other words, the only risk of CBs is in the collateral and not in the business activities per se (Al-Jarhi, 2017). The central idea of the conventional system, where money generates money by using interest, is also against the Sharīʿah. From the Islamic point of view, money can only generate money if there is buying and selling of an underlying commodity (e.g., crude palm oil) in any given transaction.
Fundamentally, Islamic finance has been developed to avoid three prohibited elements: ribā, gharar (uncertainty), and maysir (gambling). Many Qurʾānic verses and hadiths discuss ribā. Ribā-related Qurʾānic verses were revealed in phases, with the final phase (Qurʾān, 2:275-281)-which occurred towards the end of the period of revelation-stating that there is a clear difference between trade and ribā and emphasising the absolute ban of ribā (Erdem, 2017). In particular, the Qurʾānic verse 2:279 strongly underlines the prohibition of ribā and the declaration of war by Allah (SWT) and the Prophet (SAW) against the disobedient Muslims engaged in ribā.
Notwithstanding, CBs remain a force to be reckoned with despite the gradual increase of the Islamic banking market share in Malaysia. An example that highlights the discrepancy is the significant difference in compounded annual growth rates (CAGR) between CBs and IBs over the past decade. While CBs have experienced a modest CAGR of 4.6 per cent, IBs have outperformed them with a considerably higher CAGR of 10.99 per cent. Despite this, the striking fact remains that as of March 2023, the total assets held by CBs stand at a staggering RM2.29 trillion, which is twice the size of the assets held by IBs, amounting to RM1.05 trillion (BNM, 2023). Consequently, Islamic subsidiaries of CBs have a greater competitive advantage than domestic and foreign full-fledged IBs. Cases in point, inherent cross-subsidies and support from their strong parent companies enable the more cost-efficient Islamic subsidiaries to outperform full-fledged Islamic banking counterparts. Ariff (2017) argues that as the Islamic subsidiaries of CBs continue to be in the driving seat, there is a likelihood that they will continue to 'Islamise' their conventional products. Therefore, such a practice does not bode well for the long-term future of Islamic banking. The similarity of products, pricing, and behaviour has inadvertently blurred the distinction between CBs and IBs. While both Islamic subsidiaries of CBs and fullfledged IBs are technically bound by the same strict Sharīʿah regulations and requirements, full- fledged IBs must once again assume the leadership role in manoeuvring the industry to the next frontiers of value-based intermediation as espoused by Bank Negara Malaysia.
Plentiful literature concentrates on bank selection criteria and determinants to answer why customers choose certain banking products and services (see Haron et al., 1994;Dusuki & Abdullah, 2007;Haque et al., 2009) or the perception and motivating factors in customers' bank patronage behaviour concerning conventional and Islamic banking sectors (see Ahmad & Haron, 2000;Dusuki & Abdullah, 2007;Loo, 2010;Abdullah et al., 2012). In contrast, research about ribā in relation to general consumer banking is scarce. However, some studies did include ribā under Islamic financial literacy and other Islamic banking terms and products (see Gerrard & Cunningham, 1997;Mahdzan et al., 2017).
Previous literature on ribā-related research, especially within the consumer behaviour realm in Islamic banking's body of knowledge, usually revolves around financial literacy (Gerrard & Cunningham, 1997;Mahdzan et al., 2017), attitude (Kaakeh et al., 2019), or adoption of Islamic banking (Albaity & Rahman, 2019). Notwithstanding, this research does not intend to examine Islamic banking from the same perspective. On the contrary, it uses the measurement of ribā knowledge to investigate why some Muslims still choose conventional banking over Islamic banking even though Allah (SWT) and the Prophet (SAW) have made it explicitly clear about the prohibition and implication of ribā in this world and the hereafter. Considering the level of stern warning by Allah (SWT) regarding ribā and the implications of practicing it, this research will focus mainly on ribā over gharar and maysir and its impact on bank selection of Malaysian Muslim customers.
In the consumer decision-making process, information search comes second after need recognition. Knowledge will influence human actions and decisions. An earlier study by Brucks (1985) stated that product knowledge would affect a consumer's search actions throughout the purchase activity, affect the treatment of the information, and affect the consumer's purchase intention. Lin and Chen (2006) assert this point and have found that product knowledge positively affects consumer purchase decisions. With respect to these observations, this study examines whether ribā knowledge influences Malaysian Muslim consumers' decisions in their bank selection, particularly in deciding between conventional or Islamic banking products and services.
As one of the central underlying values of Islamic finance, it is important to investigate whether Muslims in Malaysia have the basic knowledge and understanding of ribā before making an informed decision in choosing their banks. Therefore, this research will focus on ribā knowledge while examining the criteria Malaysian Muslims use in selecting their banks. More importantly, this study attempts to fill a gap in the scarcity of existing studies with ribā as a central theme.
Accordingly, the remainder of the paper is organised as follows: the second section discusses related literature on the subject. Subsequently, the research methodology and instruments employed are presented. The next section discusses the results. The paper concludes with prospects for future research in the last section.

LITERATURE REVIEW
The literature review focuses on establishing a knowledge base of the current state of research, identifying gaps, and the need for additional research. A literature review will be conducted to determine what will be included (and excluded) from the current research. Compared to previous studies, this study attempts to measure the level of ribā knowledge among Malaysian Muslims by asking questions that focus on the definitions of ribā according to fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence). It is not within the scope of this research to investigate or measure the technical aspects of the concepts, terms, contracts, or products of IBs in Malaysia. Besides, it is also not the purpose of this study to delve into the law or the legal implications of Islamic banking and finance that arise thereafter.

Islamic Banking Selection Criteria
Numerous studies have been conducted on banking selection criteria for both CBs and IBs with various demographic segmentation and consumer types (Wan Ahmad et al., 2019). Some have investigated country-specific bank selection criteria (Kennington, 1996;Şafakli, 2007;Kaakeh et al., 2019). Dynamic technological advancement, a landscape of various consumer groups with differing characteristics, and the incessant need for product innovations to meet new demands are good reasons to reexamine the bank selection criteria to stay relevant and address any gap therein.
For 30 years or so, conventional and Islamic banking have been the focus of previous studies on bank selection criteria in Malaysia, as described in Table 1. Based on the analysis of these previous studies, this research will measure bank selection criteria under the most critical criteria, including service quality, brand image, reputation, cost and benefit, and technology.
Brand image is regularly used as an extrinsic indication when consumers evaluate a product before purchasing (Richardson et al., 1994). A positive brand image will increase consumers' trust and purchase intention both directly and indirectly (Wang & Lee, 2016) On the other hand, reputation is often referred to as an intrinsic brand cue that affects consumers' purchasing behaviour. While the brand image is inclined towards external visualisation of one's products and services, reputation is something an organisation needs to work on from within. In banking business, intrinsic brand cue is more important than other variables like service attributes or media reviews (Mohamad et al., 2014). A bank's reputation influences the types of relationships that banks will continue with their customers and the cost that the bank is willing to bear to keep those relationships. Consequently, a good reputation boosts a bank's efficacy as a service provider.
In a banking customer's decision-making process, the bank's reputation is the main criteria in determining banks' services choice and preference (Kennington, 1996;Almossawi, 2001;Şafakli, 2007). Moreover, the same is also true for Islamic banking customers (Dusuki & Abdullah, 2007;Abduh & Omar, 2012). In a relatively recent study by Narteh and Braimah (2020), the authors measured the corporate reputation dimension by the bank's emotional appeal, the bank's initiative for social and ethical engagement, the bank as a good employer, corporate performance, customer-centric attributes, and the bank's service quality. These characteristics significantly predict customer selection of retail bank service providers.  As reported by Ahmad and Haron (2000), most IB customers emphasised religious values together with other aspects like cost and benefit, service delivery, reputation, and location in IBs' patronage. Nevertheless, authors such as Dusuki and Abdullah (2007) and Marimuthu et al. (2010) argued that IBs should be focusing on the cost and benefit factor in order to compete with their conventional counterparts. Previous literature also recommends that IBs must not solely depend on religious elements as a unique selling proposition, but they should also focus on providing quality products and services that are cost-efficient. Other studies, which found cost and benefit (including price) as significant predictors in bank selection criteria include, inter alia, The incorporation of technology in the service industry has played a crucial role for service providers to better serve their customers, and banks too have been motivated to incorporate as much technology into their business model to stay relevant (Bauer et al., 2005). It is because technology allows for considerable timesaving for both customers and employees, reducing costs, and simplifying the network transactions (Dangolani, 2011). Hence, the availability of technology-based services such as self-service machines (ATMs and CDMs), Internet banking, mobile banking, and other digital banking products is essential in influencing Malaysian banking customers' selection criteria-both conventional and Islamic (Mohd Suki, 2018;Mohd Thas Thaker et al., 2020).

Definitions, Perception and Implications of Ribā
The word 'ribā' is an Arabic word that means addition or increase. A prominent Muslim scholar, Abu al A'la al Mawdudi, defined ribā as 'a predetermined excess or surplus over and above the loan received by the creditor conditionally in relation to a specified period' (Afzal ur Rahman, 1986, p. 71). This definition outlines three main elements of ribā, which include excess or surplus over and above the loan principal, excess determined by the time-relation factor, and specified excess in the loan agreement (Engku Ali, 2007). Meanwhile, a renowned Malaysian Sharīʿah scholar and prominent figure in Islamic finance, Dr Zaharuddin Abdul Rahman delineates a more contemporaneous definition of ribā as any addition to ribawī items (i.e., gold, silver, dates, wheat, salt, and barley or any contemporaneous measure of value as well as staple and storable food) and any addition to debt due to time (delay or deferment) (Abdul Rahman, 2008;. Table 2 summarises the main types of ribā. Addition of weight on one of the exchanged items Addition in the exchanged items due to delay of delivery Source: Adapted from Abdul Rahman (2008Rahman ( , 2010 Fontaine (2019) researched Malaysian Muslims' perception of ribā by incorporating questions about other sins such as eating pork, drinking alcohol, and dating. The research findings indicated that 40 per cent of Muslims seem unsure about ribā's legal status while 31 per cent have no issue with partaking in ribā-based transactions. This is rather worrying for one obvious reason-the prohibition of ribā in Islam. Some Muslims' trouble in understanding the prohibition of ribā in Islam arises from inadequate appreciation of Islamic values, particularly Islam's strict insistence on socioeconomic justice and equitable distribution of wealth (Rufai, 2014).
In light of the above, Shahar et al. (2016) outlined several adverse effects of ribā: the inequitable redistribution of wealth in a society and the exploitation of the needy and the poor, whose future earnings are reduced, and consequently they will be trapped in an unending poverty cycle. In addition, Rufai (2014) indicated that ribā's unjust nature will negatively impact a needy person's morale by weakening his kindness and goodwill toward the lender. Therefore, the wisdom behind the prohibition of ribā is to attain the following purposes: to safeguard the Muslims' assets from unjust treatment, to motivate and command Muslims towards lawful and Sharīʿah-compliant investments, and to deter hatred, evil and envy among Muslims caused by unjust practices (Rufai, 2014). Besides, the prohibition of ribā will also inspire people to do good deeds to one another as recommended by Islam-by applying the concept of lending out of goodwill and expecting no extra return, which in turn heightens the brotherhood spirit among Muslims.

METHODOLOGY Sample
The non-probability sampling technique is used in this research by adopting convenient judgement and snowball sampling. The technique was also chosen because of the non-possibility of estimating the target population and the unavailability of a sampling frame. The sampling method is intentionally used due to respondents' ability to provide information as outlined and required by the researcher by the attribute of knowledge or experience (Etikan et al., 2016). These techniques are cost-effective, easy to implement, and most convenient (Taherdoost, 2016). Judgmental sampling is employed with two main criteria: Muslim respondents and respondents with a loan or Islamic financing account in any commercial bank in Malaysia. Hence, Muslim working adults are suitable for the sampling purposes.

Data Collection
Self-administered surveys were distributed to offices within the Greater Kuala Lumpur area where willing Muslim working adults were identified. A total of 350 printed surveys were handed out, and the response time ranged from a week to more than a month. The researcher sent reminders to improve the response rate, promising anonymity and appealing for participation. The same survey was uploaded to an online channel, and the link was shared within the researchers' network.

Research Instrument
The questionnaire was divided into three sections. The first section consists of the measurement of bank selection criteria. Thirty-one (31) items were developed to measure the five bank selection criteria. Moreover, the items under the service quality construct were also adjusted to accommodate the standard Customer Service Charter (Charter) implemented by all banks in Malaysia. The Association of Banks in Malaysia (ABM) and Association of Islamic Banking and Financial Institutions Malaysia (AIBIM) oversee the development, rollout, and revision of the Charter with the participation of their member banks.
The second section consists of items to measure ribā knowledge. These items were developed following personal communication with an expert reviewer, Dr Zaharuddin Abdul Rahman, on September 26, 2020. The following items were concluded as a measurement for ribā knowledge appropriate for research among public respondents:  Ribā is an addition in the exchange of ribawī items (of the same type and category) due to the addition of weight on one of them.  Ribā is an addition in exchange for ribawī items (of the same type or category) due to the delay of delivery.  Ribā is an increase in debt payment due to delays or deferments.  Ribā can also be in the form of additional payments for late payment of debts.  Ribā is any privilege afforded to the lender in the debt or loan transaction of goods comprising comparable or similar items that can be calculated objectively, e.g., money with money.
The expert reviewer advised adding a brief meaning of ribawī items as additional information for the respondents before answering the questions. Hence, the following statement is added before the questions about ribā-'The six ribawī items according to the hadith are as follows: gold with gold, silver with silver, wheat with wheat, barley with barley, salt with salt and dates with dates. The word ribawī does not mean ribā'. Before the pilot and actual data collection, the drafted and complete survey question set was then shared with third-party individuals for expert reviews, especially on the ribā knowledge construct. This process was performed because the items adopted for ribā constructs have yet to be widely tested. Even though the individual experts' views vary, they can determine questions that have the possibility of data quality problems (Olson, 2010). Two subject-matter experts were involved in the research questionnaire pretesting methods through informal reviews by the individual experts.
The third section consists of demographic data. To filter out non-eligible respondents, these two main instructions were included: respondents must provide the loan account type they owned and the bank that is servicing the loan. Each respondent can select more than one loan account owned by him/her and subsequently may choose more than one bank as the loan provider. By doing so, the distribution of loan account type and bank type (conventional or Islamic) can be determined.
Measurement scales used in this research are nominal and ordinal scales. A demographic profile using a nominal scale enables grouping of information collected. This research uses a 10point Likert scale. While the traditional five-point Likert scale conforms to Likert's rules for construction and testing (Blumberg et al., 2014), the 10-point scale generally displays higher validity than the five-point scale for convergent and discriminant validity assessment (Coelho & Esteves, 2007).

Data Analysis
Statistical and mathematical methods involving computerised analysis were executed using IBM SPSS v26 and SmartPLS 4.0. SPSS is generally used for descriptive and factor analysis, while SmartPLS is chosen to estimate the path coefficients hypothesised by the model framework. SmartPLS was selected to analyse a complex model such as this research as suggested by Hair et al. (2021). In addition, SQL Server 2019 Express was used for data management and processing.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS Demographic Profile
The population of interest for this study was Muslim working adults with one or more loan or Islamic financing accounts in any bank in Malaysia. As expected, most of the respondents were grouped in the age range of 20 to 50 years old as this group represents the working-age population in Malaysia (i.e., 15 to 64 years old as per the definition used by the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) for their Labour Force and Social Statistics' monthly releases and quarterly and annual reports). The respondents' demographic profile is summarised in Table 3. The percentage distribution is shown in Table 4.

Exploratory Factor Analysis
The Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) and Bartlett's tests are two statistical procedures to confirm the feasibility of exploratory factor analysis (EFA) for a given data set. Factor analysis was performed with all the latent variables and observed for correlations and dimension reduction. For the data set, Bartlett's test of Sphericity is significant (p=.000), and the KMO score is 0.967, confirming the feasibility of EFA.
Factor rotation is a systematic method in which the measured items are loaded together in different factors or components. The results indicated that four-factor components explained 77.34 per cent of the variance from the original five constructs. After removing three items under brand image because of cross-loading, the remaining 27 items were regrouped as service quality, corporate reputation, cost and benefit, and technology, as shown in Table 5

Cost and Benefit (COST)
My bank charges reasonable service fees.

Knowledge (RIBA)
Ribā is any addition in the exchange of ribawī items (of the same type and category) due to the addition of weight on one of them. Ribā is any addition in exchange for ribawī items (of the same type or category) due to delivery delay.

0.914
Ribā is an increase in debt payment due to delays or deferments.

0.848
Ribā is any privileges afforded to the lender in the debt or loan transaction of goods with mithliah status (comparable or similar item and can be calculated objectively) such as money with money.

0.830
Ribā can also be in the form of additional payments for late payment of debts.

Reliability and Validity
The reliability of the constructs was verified using Cronbach's Alpha and Composite Reliability (CR). Cronbach's Alpha of each construct exceeded the recommended threshold of 0.700. Convergent validity was acceptable because the average variance extracted (AVE) was over 0.500. For practical significance, loadings greater than 0.50 are considered necessary (Hair et al., 2014). Fornell-Lacker criterion was utilised to assess the model's discriminant validity. Using this method, the square root of the AVE and the correlation of latent constructs were compared. A latent construct should describe the variance of its indicator rather than the variance of other latent constructs. Hence, each construct's AVE square root should have a more significant value than the correlations with other latent constructs (Ab Hamid et al., 2017). Next, the model's discriminant validity was assessed using correlations' Heterotrait-Monotrait ratio (HTMT). If the value of the HTMT is higher than 1, one can conclude that there is a lack of discriminant validity (Ab Hamid et al., 2017).

Research Model Development
After the factor loading analysis, reliability, and validity measurement were completed, a revised model was developed based on the results. Figure 1 depicts the revised research framework, and Table 6 stipulates the revised hypotheses.

Structural Model Analysis
A structural equation modeling (SEM) measurement was performed using the SmartPLS application to analyse the structural relationship between variables and constructs. Figure 2 reflects the paths hypothesised in the research framework.   There is a significant relationship between service quality and bank selection among Malaysian Muslims. H2 There is a significant relationship between corporate reputation and bank selection among Malaysian Muslims. H3 There is a significant relationship between cost and benefit and bank selection among Malaysian Muslims. H4 There is a significant relationship between technology and bank selection among Malaysian Muslims.

The moderating role of ribā knowledge H5a
Ribā knowledge moderates the relationship between service quality and bank selection among Malaysian Muslims. H5b Ribā knowledge moderates the relationship between corporate reputation and bank selection among Malaysian Muslims. H5c Ribā knowledge moderates the relationship between cost/benefit and bank selection among Malaysian Muslims. H5d Ribā knowledge moderates the relationship between technology and bank selection among Malaysian Muslims. Source: Authors' own

Path Analysis
A structural model is assessed based on the R 2 , Q 2 , and paths' significance. To explain the endogenous constructs, the value of R 2 should be greater than 0.1 (Falk & Miller, 1992). The results show that the R 2 value is over 0.1. Hence, the predictive capability is established. The other latent variables explain 81.1 per cent of bank selection criteria in the structural model. Q 2 establishes the predictive relevance of the endogenous constructs. A Q 2 score of above 0 shows that the model has predictive relevance (Hair et al., 2021). The results show that there is significance in the prediction of the constructs. Additionally, Standardised Root Mean Square Residual (SRMR) was used to measure model fit by assessing the average scale of the discrepancies between the observed correlation and the predicted correlation. The value of SRMR was 0.052, which was below the recommended value of close to .08 (Hu & Bentler, 1998), indicating a good model fit.

Hypotheses Results
The hypotheses results are provided in Table 7.

Relationship with bank selection H1
There is a significant relationship between service quality and bank selection among Malaysian Muslims.

Not supported H2
There is a significant relationship between corporate reputation and bank selection among Malaysian Muslims.

H3
There is a significant relationship between cost and benefit and bank selection among Malaysian Muslims.

H4
There is a significant relationship between technology and bank selection among Malaysian Muslims.

Supported
The moderating role of ribā knowledge H5a Ribā knowledge moderates the relationship between service quality and bank selection among Malaysian Muslims.

Importance-Performance Results
Another test was run to analyse the importance-performance variables measured against bank selection as depicted by the research model. Importance-performance map analysis (IPMA) extends the results of structural model relationship by considering both importance and performance dimensions of each construct in order to prioritise managerial activities. The objective of IPMA is to observe which factors have a low performance but high importance for the target constructs.
The IPMA results show that RIBA had a higher performance than COST and lower performance level than SERVQUAL, CORP, and TECH. The variable with both the highest performance and importance was TECH. SERVQUAL has a negative value of importance which | 151 ISRA International Journal of Islamic Finance • Volume 15 • Number 2 • 2023 concurred with the H1 result. Notably, RIBA had the lowest importance compared to the rest of the variables. Figure 3 illustrates the importance-performance map.

Figure 3: Importance-Performance Map
Source: Authors' own

DISCUSSION
All bank selection criteria were found to influence bank selection positively and significantly except for service quality (H1). A relatively recent study by Abdul Hadi & Muwazir (2020) on Islamic banking selection criteria had similar results. Interestingly, however, Malay customers ranked service quality as the bottom two factors compared to Chinese and Indian customers (top three and top two, respectively).
Four out of six items under the service quality construct are also part of the customer service charter which has been implemented by Malaysian banks since 2011 (with the latest revision in 2017). This may contribute to the insignificant finding in this study that bank service quality has already matured into an industry standard. Therefore, it is advisable for banks to plan and execute a differentiation strategy, all the while maintaining their service quality, par excellence. In addition, banks with good service quality have a better sustainable competitive advantage and maintain customers' long-term trust. This is especially true for banking institutions, as from the bank marketing perspective, service quality is always linked to customer satisfaction, loyalty and interest in buying or using a banking product or service (Chu et al., 2012).
The construct of corporate reputation in this study includes brand image and reputation factors tested in previous research. The result revealed a significant relationship between | 152 ISRA International Journal of Islamic Finance • Volume 15 • Number 2 • 2023 corporate reputation and bank selection (H2). The same result was concluded in earlier studies (Boyd et al., 1995;Naser et al., 1999;Dusuki & Abdullah, 2007) and relatively recent studies about bank selection (Mohd Suki, 2018;Selvanathan et al., 2018). This study's finding is not at all surprising as the bank's overall image, financial performance, and reputation are aspects that customers often consider when selecting a bank.
The customers' attitude towards banks is typically concerned with the cost and benefit since they assign substantial weight to the availability of cost-effective financial solutions (Mansour et al., 2010;Awan & Bukhari, 2011). It is evidently clear from the above result where cost and benefit factors have a significant relationship with bank selection (H3). Doraisamy et al. (2011) demonstrated the consumers' inclination towards conventional banking because of, inter alia, lower operating charges and high interest in savings. Interestingly, despite the widespread belief that Islamic banking products are more expensive than CBs (El-Gamal, 2006;Said et al., 2022), competitive product pricing also significantly influences the non-Muslims' loyalty towards Islamic banking in Malaysia (Thaker et al., 2020). With this information, IBs should vigorously continue to improve their products' pricing competitiveness (or at the very least, match theirs to that of their conventional counterparts) to upgrade their customers' cost/benefit appraisals.
This study indicates a significant relationship between technology and bank selection (H4). This result is also consistent with Mohd Suki (2018), Tesfaye et al. (2019), Mohd Thas Thaker et al. (2020, who found that technology is a significant factor in bank selection criteria. Moreover, the COVID-19 pandemic has been a catalyst for banking institutions to rely on technology more than ever. Consequently, the provision of alternative (and complementary) banking channels such as Internet banking, mobile banking, and ATM that are user-friendly will continue to serve as a critical success factor for IBs. So much so, it is becoming almost obligatory for banks to leverage fintech in their business operations since consumers are becoming more and more dependent on using technologies in their constant pursuit of convenience.
As for the moderation analysis, no significant effect was found between the independent and dependent variables (H5a, H5b, H5c, and H5d). Even though it is highly recommended for Muslims to possess knowledge about ribā that will naturally lead them to patronise Sharīʿahcompliant banking, such knowledge was found to be inconsequential in their decision-making. This is even though more than half of the respondents opted for Islamic home financing products (58 per cent). Remarkably, the issue of ribā was not an essential factor in their decision-making. At this point, the authors can only provide several plausible explanations. Malaysia is renowned globally for having one of the most comprehensive Sharīʿah governance frameworks in the world and, hence, the issue of Sharīʿah non-compliance (read: ribā) was never an issue for Malaysia's Islamic banking users. A case in point, Bank Negara Malaysia sets out to achieve end-to-end Sharīʿah compliance through two elements, i.e., the Shariah Advisory Council (SAC) and the internal Shariah committee formed at each IB. In addition, through the Shariah Governance Framework policy documents in 2010 and 2019, Bank Negara Malaysia sets out the requirements of Sharīʿah governance structures, processes, and arrangements to ensure Sharīʿah compliance and provides comprehensive guidelines for the board, Shariah committee, Sharīʿah review, Sharīʿah audit, Sharīʿah risk management and Sharīʿah research (Saba, 2018 In lieu of the above, there is a strong possibility that Islamic banking customers in Malaysia might be (consciously or unconsciously) 'outsourcing' their decision-making responsibility to the respective IBs' Sharīʿah committees and the SAC. Stated differently, they merely follow and accept the Sharīʿah resolutions issued by the SAC without being compelled to acquire the knowledge personally. It can be said that it was relatively easy to acquire this knowledge, but it was not prioritised and applied appropriately in accordance with Islamic teachings, i.e., in the case where one chooses conventional over Islamic bank. This was further evidenced by the IPMA result, where ribā knowledge had a higher performance than cost and benefit but ranked lower vis-à-vis the other bank selection criteria. A study by Ariff (2017) might clarify this 'enigma'. He suggested the following four categories of Islamic banking clientele: 1. The loyalist who accepts without questions or hesitation. 2. The skeptics who have doubts but are willing to join in while expecting things to improve gradually. 3. The pragmatist who is uncertain but willing to trust with a justification that sin (if any) would fall on the bank. 4. The indifferent opportunist would freely switch banks depending on costs and benefits.
A case in point, Doraisamy et al. (2011) studied consumers' preferences for Islamic banking products and services in the northern Malaysian state of Kedah. The research results show that more than 70 per cent of the respondents knew about Islamic banking, but not all chose to open Islamic bank accounts. The respondents believe that CBs were superior to IBs in terms of higher wealth contribution, lower fees, speed of transactions, reputation, and efficiency. This finding may provide an additional answer to the percentage of Muslims in this study who have transactions with CBs (38.2 per cent), i.e., they may also belong to the opportunist group as defined by Ariff (2017).

CONCLUSION
The research found that corporate reputation, cost/benefit analysis, and technology have significant relationships with bank selection. Since technology has the highest level of performance and importance, it can be concluded that it plays a significant role in bank selection above the other significant factors measured by the research model. With the imminent arrival of Industry 5.0, where people and machines synergistically work together to improve the means and efficiency of production, the importance of technology is greater than ever.
In Malaysia, where most banks offer a dual banking system, customers need to be aware of the advantages and disadvantages of the products and services offered by the banks. According to the Islamic teachings, a practicing Muslim must be mindful of what is forbidden and what is permitted to protect his faith and gain the pleasure of Allah (SWT). As mentioned in the preceding sections, ribā is one of the most important prohibited elements in Islamic finance (along with gharar and maysir). Nonetheless, the study found that the moderating knowledge of ribā did not show any significant impact on the measured constructs. Worse still, the importanceperformance test shows that it has the lowest importance compared to the significant bank selection criteria, which could explain why some Muslims choose CBs over IBs. Although it is not legally compulsory for Muslims in Malaysia to patronise IBs over their conventional counterparts, they must be aware of the consequences of engaging in ribā-based transactions. Some may argue that the decision to patronise a banking system is the prerogative of the individual, as ribā is a personal and sensitive matter. Nonetheless, IBs should go a step further and play an essential role in increasing public knowledge and awareness. Interactive awareness campaigns by Bank Negara Malaysia and IBs should be conducted as part of corporate social responsibility or as a targeted marketing strategy.
Although this study focuses on the influence of ribā knowledge on bank selection, it is not designed to measure respondents' level of religiosity or to compare responses between CB customers and IB customers. For this reason, the authors decided not to include questions to measure whether respondents were aware of or knowledgeable about Islamic laws behind the prohibition of ribā. Since the items used to measure ribā knowledge were not extensively tested, this is a possible limitation that can be addressed as a prospect for future research. In addition, it is suggested that a stratified cluster sample be used to better represent the samples and eliminate sampling bias. Cluster samples can be constructed based on regional zones (North, Central, East Coast, South, and East Malaysia) to better reflect these region's varied demographic profiles. Another aspect of research that could explain why Muslims prefer CBs over IBs is to examine the ribā construct in the context of Muslim bank customers' perceptions and awareness in Malaysia and respondents' religiosity. Lack of awareness of Sharīʿah legal injuctions against ribā could explain why Muslims prefer CBs to IBs.