IslamicFinance.de

Fintech is a crowded space, but a new subgenre is emerging to attract the world’s 1.8bn Muslims with a Shariah-compliant alternative. The new ecosystem includes Islamic online wealth managers like Wahed and streams of Islamic mobile-first banks, including the UK’s Niyah and Germany’s Insha. Over the last few months Insha has onboarded 12,000 users in Germany, aiming to have 1m across Europe by the end of 2023. Insha plans to draw in Turkish-born Muslims in Europe with its trilingual offering and to make speedy returns by offering mortgages immediately (supported by its partner bank). But for all its promise, Islamic fintech is still a hard sell, even for its target audience. Shariah law itself is complicated and Muslim-specific financial services aren’t always a good deal. Islamic fintechs will also need to compete with a wave of new secular, ethical banks like Bunq.