In the latest revision of the IFN Islamic Fintech Landscape, three entities were included while one was excluded, bringing the total number of fintech firms offering Shariah compliant products to 116.
Digital banking start-ups form the bulk of the new entrants this month: Medina Digital Finance from Kenya and Hada DBank, to be headquartered in Switzerland. It must be noted, similar to Ummah Finance from the UK, these Islamic challenger banks are still in formative phase with plans to launch their offerings next year. Medina Digital Finance will seek a Fatwa in 2018 while Hada DBank is in the process of forming an internal Shariah advisory board.
Sarwa Digital Wealth, one of the 11 finalists selected to participate in Dubai International Financial Center’s inaugural FinTech Hive program, has confirmed that it is offering a Shariah compliant product alongside its conventional portfolio. The UAE-based automated investment management platform may consider obtaining a Fatwa to certify its Islamic investment options.
The IFN Islamic Fintech Landscape saw the exit of insuretech firm Neosurance. The European firm is part SuperCharger Malaysia accelerator program which concluded on the 15th December and while it is open to exploring offering Shariah compatible products, it has not developed any Takaful offerings yet and is therefore excluded from the Landscape.
Top Islamic fintech markets by geography
Country | Number of Islamic fintech companies |
Malaysia | 21 |
UK | 18 |
Indonesia | 15 |
UAE | 15 |
US | 14 |
* As at the 20th December 2017
Latest entrants:
Name | Vertical | Country |
Medina Digital Finance | Challenger/digital bank | Kenya |
Hada DBank | Challenger/digital bank | Switzerland |
Sarwa Digital Wealth | Personal finance management | UAE |
* As at the 20th December 2017
Islamic fintech companies by verticals