Global Islamic Fintech Report 2019: Highlights
The Global Islamic Fintech Report 2019, produced by London-based digital finance firm Elipses in collaboration with the UK Islamic Fintech Panel, was released on Tuesday (Dec 10).
The study is based on a survey of 180 companies worldwide spanning five categories: fintechs (50%), ecosystem players such as incubators and accelerators (22%), service providers such as consultancies (16%), financial institutions (8%), and investors (4%), Elipses Co-founder and Principal, Abdul Haseeb Basit told Salaam Gateway.
The biggest group of respondents, at 38%, is based in the UK, followed by 28% in the Middle East, 14% in Other Europe, 12% based in Southeast Asia, 6% were from North America, and 2% from Other Asia.
Here are the highlights from the report:
- Top five expected growth sectors for 2020: P2P/Crowdfunding, Challenger banking, Blockchain/Crypto, Robo-advisory/Personal finance management, and Lending.
- Founding jurisdictions: Islamic fintechs cited the strength of the local conventional and Islamic finance sectors as very important factors in choosing their founding jurisdiction.
- Islamic fintechs identified a lack of access to capital as the biggest barrier to scaling.
- 76% of Islamic fintechs are already or are expecting to be Shariah-certified, however 68% felt certification wasn’t necessary to be considered Islamic.
- The preferred method of engagement by Islamic economy institutions is partnerships, with more institutions expecting to do so in 2020.
- 85% of Islamic fintechs have or are seeking direct or indirect regulated status or expected to be regulated in some form in the near future.
- Southeast Asian countries are expected to provide the highest growth potential in 2020 for Islamic fintech.
- Partnerships are a key growth strategy for Islamic fintechs with the other Islamic fintechs and Islamic banks being the most sought after partners.
- 26% of Islamic fintechs surveyed have at least one female founder with an average female staff base of 24%.
The full report can be downloaded from this link.
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