Islamic Banking

Fintech in Islamic finance: How Kuwaiti banks are pioneering the trend

This article was first published in IFN Volume 18 Issue 40 dated the 6th October 2021 التكنولوجيا continues to disrupt the traditional industries and Islamic banking is not an exception. Fintech, short for financial technology, is an omnibus term that basically includes any technology which helps the banks and other financial institutions deliver services and products to their customers faster and in a more efficient way. Today anything from cryptocurrency to e-payment services come under the ambit of fintech. Islamic...

What affects the liquidity position of Islamic banks?

This article was originally published in Islamic Finance News (IFN). Maturity transformation is the primary business of banks and which by definition is the conversion of a bank’s short-term liabilities into longer-term investments through loans and advances. The very nature of a bank’s business model requires them to hold a mix of liquid liabilities with illiquid assets. While the primary target of banks is to strive for profitability by optimal utilization of available funds, they also have to maintain an...

Liquidity in Islamic banking: Challenges and opportunities

This article was originally published in Islamic Finance News (IFN). Liquidity management has been a key element for banking, be it conventional or Islamic. However, the main difference between the two lies in the tools each of them can use to effectively manage liquidity. Conventional banks have access to instruments such as interbank deposits, repo operations, foreign exchange swaps, T-bills [treasury bills] and commercial papers that are inaccessible to Islamic banks due to their nature of charging interest, which is...

التمويل الإسلامي: مجالات للابتكار

Islamic finance industry has evolved and grown considerably since its inception in a rudimentary form during 1960s. The focus of the Islamic finance industry during its initial stage of inception was to create customer awareness and product development. However, the increased recognition and awareness, along with high demand resulted in rapid growth in the value and transformation of the industry over the next few decades. The global Islamic finance industry realised $2.1tn of assets in 2014 and is gearing up...