Postponing payment to the electric company in return for interest
Question
Shalom,
He wants to postpone the payment to the credit card company by two months in return for interest. In a week he will have the possibility to pay the credit card company the money, but he does not want to repay immediately because he wants to invest it in his business as planned. May one in this case rely on a heter iska?
Answer
Shalom u’vracha,
For the first week he cannot rely on a heter iska. After he receives the money that he wishes to invest, he can transfer it via another person to the credit card company and invest it on the basis of the heter iska.
Source
During the first week he has a debt that is accruing interest without any business transaction, and even if he wishes to repay it at the end of the week he will still have to pay the interest for that week. However, after he has the money, if he transfers it to the credit card company by means of a kinyan, he will be able to invest it in accordance with the heter iska. Therefore, the solution in such a case is to borrow money from a friend or a gemach for a week and perform the kinyan immediately, and at the end of the week, when the money arrives, repay the friend.
