The mountains in Malaysia’s Islamic fintech landscape

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Hello,

When you have eggs, flour, sugar, and an oven, you should be able to make a cake. But that’s not always the case, as I found out reading my colleague Emmanuel’s piece on Islamic fintech in Malaysia.

Muslims make up 65% of the population in Malaysia, and the country has 294 fintech firms. But apparently, only 5% of them cater to Islamic fintech. That seems like a lost opportunity, a gold mine that hasn’t been tapped into. Today’s story pick gives us the lay of the land and charts out the biggest obstacles for Islamic fintech in Malaysia.

But before we proceed, if you have any questions for the folks who run Tech in Asia, here’s your chance to ask them anything in an AMA session!

Today we look at:

• Malaysia’s Islamic fintech scene: fool’s gold?
• Grab gets surprised by a fine in the Philippines
• Other newsy highlights such as CEO Forrest Li’s memo to Sea Group staff and TikTok’s student-special initiative in Singapore.

— Nikita

P.S.: Here’s your periodic reminder to fill in this form if you’re an entrepreneur looking to raise funds.

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Money matters take mountainous shapes

Image credit: Timmy Loen

So despite having close to 300 fintech startups, Malaysia doesn’t have a fintech unicorn. For comparison, Indonesia, which is also a Muslim-majority country, has Ovo, a fintech unicorn that also offers Islamic products.

It’s important to establish what it means to be an “Islamic fintech” firm. Besides adhering to Shariah principles and prohibiting charging of interest, this specialized branch also touches upon risk-sharing as well as ethical investing.

• Giants make giant shadows: Among the reasons why Islamic fintech startups have a hard time in Malaysia is because of the existing banks in the country – giants in the field who already have Shariah-compliant units.

Grab gets a bad surprise in the Philippines

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