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Islamic Finance Has No Other Option Than to Embrace Financial Technology.

Wittenborg lecturer, Dr Muhammad Ashfaq, recently participated in the 7th Global Forum on Islamic Finance organised by the COMSATS University Islamabad held at its Lahore campus in Pakistan.

Ashfaq gave a presentation which asked the question: “Can Financial Technology Play and Important Role in the Development of Islamic Finance?”

He also met with the director of the campus, Prof. Dr. Qaisar Abbas, to discuss mutual areas of interest between COMSATS University Islamabad and Wittenborg University of Applied Sciences. "I briefed him about the academic excellence at Wittenborg," Ashfaq said of the meeting.

One of the key points of his presentation was that though Islamic finance accepts financial technology, it does so at a slower speed compared to its conventional peers.  "There are already a few successful cases where Islamic banks have been involved in utilising fintech platforms. Examples include the Investment Account Platform (IAP) in Malaysia and the Emirates Digital Wallet, which is a joint venture of 16 UAE banks, 4 of which are Islamic.  Consequently, we see diverse response from traditional market players with respect to this new disruption."

He concluded that overall, existing market players do not have any option except to embrace fintech and work in cooperation with it.

WUP 22/4/2019
by James Wittenborg
©WUAS Press