What are the most important factors for Islamic fintechs looking to set up their HQ?

The strength of the local conventional finance industry is a very important factor governing the choice of where to base an Islamic fintech, said a survey released on Tuesday (Dec 10).

The Global Islamic Fintech Report 2019 is produced by London-based digital finance firm Elipses in collaboration with the UK Islamic Fintech Panel.

The report writers said the second most important factor when deciding on where to base an Islamic fintech is the strength of the local Islamic finance industry.

“This bodes well for future Islamic fintech activity in developed financial services hubs where Islamic finance competency exists,” said the study.

The study is based on a survey with 180 companies worldwide across five categories: fintechs (50%), ecosystem players such as incubators and accelerators (22%), service providers such as law firms (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.

The report can be downloaded from this link.

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