PayHalal, which began its Islamic fintech journey in 2018 as an Islamic payment gateway, has its eyes set on something bolder and bigger.
Kuala Lumpur-based PayHalal has gained steady traction among Islamic financial institutions and religious bodies with its Shariah compliant e-payment solution but with intentions to list on Bursa Malaysia’s LEAP Market by 2021, the firm is currently working on expanding its remit. The start-up is finalizing a few partnerships, designing a digital wallet and building a business-to-business (B2B) marketplace.
“We are currently working on a process for us to create an e-wallet that may include prepaid cards where it is purely focused on Zakat. With this, those who pay Zakat and the Zakat bodies that distribute funds to the needy may use this e-wallet to disburse the funds,” Muhammad Sulwan Mohamed Subhan, the deputy general manager at PayHalal, shares with IFN Fintech.
Concurrently, the start-up is also channeling its resources to building Berkat, a Halal e-commerce B2B marketplace. An initiative first incepted in 2018, PayHalal expects to launch it this November.
“If we look at the combination in the market right now, companies with big markets are bound to have their own credit features, like Shopee credit and PayPal which started from eBay. We looked at a similar concept and Berkat was created,” Muhammad explains to IFN. Shopee is a Malaysian e-commerce platform.
“Berkat will be offering services similar to a standard marketplace. Muslim shoppers are able to shop from household products, clothing lines, mobile and more items as long as it’s Halal-certified or Shariah compliant. We are also looking at Berkat being the one-stop center promoting cross-border sales and purchases,” notes Muhammad.
PayHalal is currently in talks with major manufacturers and distributors to bring in proper product placement at a lower price.
Targeting 14 million merchants with the capability of 514 million users, PayHalal is looking to expand its services to 25 countries by 2030.