Are participation and conventional banks operating under the same roof really different? Evidence from Turkish bank clients

Purpose This paper aims to reveal whether there is a difference in perception of banking clients toward participation banks (PBs) and conventional banks (CBs) operated by the same bank. Design/methodology/approach The data were gathered with an online questionnaire from 254 participants. Questionnaire consisted of the Chaouch (2017) bank perception scale and the Koenig and Büssing (2010) religiosity scale. The data of the study were analyzed using the paired samples t -test and regression analysis. Findings The findings exhibit that Turkish bank clients, as a secular society, differently perceive financial activities of PBs and CBs that operate under the same roof in terms of compliance with Islamic laws. The findings also reveal that perceptions of the Turkish bank clients toward PBs' activities to compliance with the Islamic rules differs by the religiosity level. On the other hand, findings show that there is no difference in the perceptions of the CB's activities regarding compliance with Islamic rules by the clients’ religiosity level. Research limitations/implications This study uses quantitative data. These type of data both can miss sometimes certain knowledge and restricts of participants thoughts on the study phenomena. Practical implications Based on the results of the study’s findings, beneficial suggestions are made for researchers and banking sector managers. Originality/value While many studies have been on Islamic banking, this study extends the role theory to compare perceptions of bank clients between PBs and CBs and provides an empirical evidence for bank clients' perceptions to dual banking in a developing and a secular country like Turkey.