Why UK and UAE fintechs could be taking on the world together

Why UK and UAE fintechs could be taking on the world together

The UK and the UAE fintech markets will see major regional cross-collaboration in the coming years, according to experts.

Fintech – including Islamic fintech - is a growing industry globally. Britain is now home to 27 Islamic fintechs, followed by Malaysia with 19, the UAE with 15, Indonesia with 13, and Saudi Arabia and the US with nine, according to IFN FinTech.

Global investments in Islamic economy-relevant companies totalled $11.8 billion in 2019/20, according to the State of Islamic Economy 2019/2020 report by Dinar Standard.

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Islamic fintech attracted 41.8 percent of the investments. This figure reflects corporate-led mergers and acquisitions, venture capital investments in tech start-ups, and private equity investments, the report said.

British fintech boom

The UK's fintech start-up scene has seen an injection of Islamic-focused firms in recent months, which abide by interest-free Sharia laws and avoid ‘unethical' investments, such as alcohol and gambling.

My Ahmed, a sharia-compliant e-money platform, was accepted into the Financial Conduct Authority's regulatory sandbox in July. In the same month, Islamic peer-to-peer lending platform Qardus launched UK services, along with trading platform Minted and sharia-compliant ethical banking alternative, Kestrl.

This year,