Vineeta Tan

A Sydney-based Islamic investment manager has launched a digital solution in a bid to reach out to the wider Australian community.

FataFeat, a savings and investment app targeting youths, is laying the foundation to launch in the Saudi market having recently graduated from the Fintech Saudi’s Fintech Seed Virtual Accelerator.

The General Council for Islamic Banks and Financial Institutions (CIBAFI) has made five recommendations to Islamic banks in light of central banks adopting central bank digital currencies (CBDCs).

The people behind an Uzbek Halal digital investment platform have set up a funding initiative to finance start-ups in the Republic.

Indonesia’s Investree has terminated its Shariah business operations since January 2023, the P2P lender confirmed in a social media post.

Kazakhstan-based Islamic fintech start-up Tayyab has received over US$120 million in applications for its planned vehicle financing product, Co-Founder Ivan Kamenski told IFN Fintech.

While securing a buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) license is taking longer than expected, Uzbekistan’s IMAN is nonetheless making good progress on expanding its Islamic fintech business: it has established a joint venture (JV) in Kazakhstan and has secured a place in a Silicon Valley accelerator program.

Oman’s Capital Market Authority (CMA) is developing a comprehensive regulatory framework for virtual assets and virtual asset service providers (VASP) in a meaningful move to develop the Sultanate’s digital assets sector.

Sheikh Saeed Hamdan Mohammed Al Nahyan, a member of the UAE royal family who is notably the UAE naval chief rear admiral, has joined HAQQ Association as an advisor, in support of the rollout of Islamic Coin.

Having already initiated a test pilot in the Isle of Man, ZeroPA, which is targeting the UK Muslim market with its interest-free digital finance solution, is working on expanding its business to the rest of the UK with a license from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), IFN Fintech has learned.

Wahed has purchased a digital Islamic wills provider and a legal firm specializing in estate planning for Muslims for undisclosed sums as part of the Halal robo-advisor’s aggressive growth strategy to become a one-stop shop for Muslim-friendly financial services.

Saudi robo-advisor Madkhol has secured a Shariah stamp of approval for its digital financial planning and wealth management service, growing the Kingdom’s Islamic fintech community.

The latest insurtech start-up accepted into Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM)’s regulatory sandbox has indicated potential interest in the Islamic insurance space.

Merak Capital has launched a SAR200 million (US$53.26 million) Shariah compliant credit fund to provide direct financing to Saudi-based technology and tech-enabled companies including fintech start-ups.

HelloGold, the industry’s first Shariah-certified gold digital trading platform, will be shuttering its retail business in Malaysia and Thailand, but will carry on with its B2B initiatives, IFN Fintech has learned.

Shariah compliant buy-now-pay-later platform Tabby has secured US$58 million in Series C funding, which raises the valuation of the Dubai start-up to US$660 million, one of the highest in the region.

IBF Net has unveiled the world's first Shariah compliant metaverse as part of its ambitious efforts to digitalize the Halal economy.

Having recently concluded a pre-series A funding round, Malaysian insurtech start-up Ouch! has confirmed that it is in advanced stages of acquiring a final approval from Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) to operate in its regulatory sandbox, with eyes on becoming the country’s first digital Takaful operator.

After about three years since it formed an alliance with Kuwait’s leading telco provider to establish a digital banking platform, Boubyan Bank has withdrawn itself from the race for an Islamic digital bank license.

InvestSky, a social investing platform which offers Halal solutions, have secured US$3.4 million in pre-seed funding to aid the fintech start-up’s retail expansion in the GCC.

Kazakhstan-based Tayyab has signed an agreement with fintech venture builder Insha Ventures, a subsidiary of participation bank Albaraka Turk, to launch its business in Turkiye this year, IFN Fintech has learned.

Hot on the heels of receiving its license from the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA), Islamic crowdfunding platform Manafa lands a SAR106 million (US$28.23 million) Series A investment round, which will help the start-up fund product development and its expansion plan in Saudi Arabia.

Mobility fintech start-up Moove has raised US$30 million from its debut Sukuk offering to...

Shariah compliant Ajman Bank is expanding its digital payment services in collaboration with payments-as-a-service (PaaS) platform KMMRCE Pay.