Qardus - Risk and return review
Qardus - Returns and loss rates
Qardus – Platform statistics 2026
150
investors
Qardus – Pros & Cons
About Qardus
What it is
Qardus is a British platform for Shariah-compliant business finance, run by Qardus Limited in London and open to investors since July 2020. Investors finance small and medium-sized UK businesses without interest: the money buys goods that are sold on to the business at cost plus a fixed mark-up, paid back over time. Qardus says it has deployed £5.1 million in UK businesses and has more than 150 high-net-worth investors (2026, undated). Since November 2025 it has held no permission from the UK financial regulator.
How it works
Only certified high-net-worth or self-certified sophisticated investors can join, after identity, affordability and suitability checks. You put money into a financing agreement with Qardus Finance Limited, a company in the Qardus group set up in October 2025, which finances many businesses at once. Two products are offered, each from £5,000: a 12-month product that pays profit monthly and returns your money at the end, and a 36-month product that pays profit monthly and returns money every six months (October 2026). Businesses receive £25,000 to £500,000 each, for up to 36 months. A Shariah certificate for the product is published.
Returns
Qardus publishes no current profit rate; rates are shown only after you are approved. The only average figure it has published is 10.44% a year, in a July 2023 fundraising for its own shares, without saying how it was measured or whether losses were taken off. Its first deal in July 2020 paid 12.15% a year, against a 10% target at launch, and the founder spoke of around 11% a year in December 2022. Nothing realised after losses has been published.
Losses and defaults
Qardus has never published a default rate, a write-off figure or a recovery rate, and it has no statistics page. As an unregulated firm it does not have to publish them. Investors' public reviews from August and September 2026 report several businesses in default, some in court or recovery, stopped repayments and slow answers on recoveries. These are investor reports, not platform figures, but they mean losses have happened and their size is not known.
What secures your money
Security is optional. Qardus Finance Limited may take a charge over property or personal guarantees from directors, but the terms say this will not happen in every case. There is no buyback, no reserve fund and no insurance. If a business stops paying, recovery costs are paid first, then Qardus's own recovery costs, and only then are investors paid in proportion; Qardus decides whether to pursue a recovery, and you have no direct claim on the business. Qardus Finance Limited, which owes you the money, has filed no accounts yet (first ones due July 2027). In plain words: you rely on many small businesses repaying and on a young company in the same group, usually without solid security.
Who runs it and its licence
Qardus Limited (company number 12181387, London, set up 2019) runs the platform. Until 28 November 2025 it worked under the licence of ShareIn Limited, an FCA-authorised firm. Since then it holds no licence: it says its financing agreement is not a regulated investment under UK rules. That is Qardus's own legal view, not a decision by the Financial Conduct Authority. You have no access to the Financial Services Compensation Scheme or the Financial Ombudsman Service. Your cash is now kept in a trust account that Qardus runs itself instead of a regulated client money account.
Fees
Qardus says it does not usually charge investors directly and charges no account fee; it is paid by the businesses. Some costs still reach you: Qardus may take fees from your trust account and keep the bank interest on cash held there, may charge for transferring your share to another investor, and recovery costs come out before investors are paid.
Getting your money out
Expect to hold to the end of the term, 12 or 36 months, or longer if a business defaults. There is no market to sell to other investors. Qardus may let you transfer your share to another approved member, but you must find the buyer yourself and a fee may apply. Profit and repayments are paid straight to your own bank account.
Our view
Return: High — 10.44% a year is the only average figure published, from July 2023, with no basis stated. Risk: High (higher means more risk) — no default or loss figure has ever been published, so we start from the middle level and move it one step worse; the platform has also been unregulated since November 2025 and investors report several defaults. Risk-return: Medium — a high stated return for high risk, but the return figure is old and nothing shows what has been lost.
Regulation
License / Regulation: No licence. Qardus Limited (company number 12181387) is not authorised or regulated by the UK Financial Conduct Authority. Until 28 November 2025 it was an appointed representative of ShareIn Limited (FCA firm reference 603332). Qardus says its financing agreement is not a designated investment under UK financial-services rules; this is its own legal view, not a regulator's decision. Investors have no rights under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme or the Financial Ombudsman Service.
Functionality
For Investors
Useful Information
No. Since 28 November 2025 Qardus holds no permission from the UK Financial Conduct Authority; before that it worked under ShareIn Limited's licence. It says its product is not a regulated investment, which is its own view. You have no Financial Services Compensation Scheme or Financial Ombudsman Service protection.
Cash in your Qardus account sits in a trust account that Qardus administers itself, kept apart from its own money but not supervised as FCA client money; the bank is not named. Once invested, the money is owed to you by Qardus Finance Limited, a group company, which pays profit and repayments straight to your bank account.
£5,000 for both the 12-month and the 36-month product (October 2026). At launch in 2020 the minimum was £100.
The only average return published is 10.44% a year, from July 2023, with no basis stated; current rates are shown only to approved investors. Qardus has never published defaults or losses, while investors reported several defaulted businesses in 2026.
Not much, as a rule. A charge over property or directors' personal guarantees may be taken, but not in every case. There is no buyback, reserve fund or insurance, recovery costs are paid before investors, and no recovery figures are published.
Not easily. There is no secondary market. Qardus may allow you to transfer your share to another approved member, but you must find that buyer yourself and a fee may apply. Otherwise your money is tied up for 12 or 36 months, or longer if a business defaults.
No direct fee as a rule; the businesses pay Qardus. But Qardus may take fees from your trust account, keeps the bank interest on cash held there, may charge for a transfer, and recovery costs are deducted before investors are paid.
If a business fails, Qardus decides whether to pursue it and recovery costs come first, so you may get back less or nothing. Money in the trust account should be kept away from Qardus's creditors if it fails, but there is no compensation scheme, and what you are owed depends on Qardus Finance Limited, a company set up in October 2025 that has filed no accounts yet.
No interest is charged. The money buys goods that are sold on to the business at cost plus a fixed mark-up, paid back over time (a murabaha). Your profit comes from that mark-up, and a Shariah certificate for the product is published.
