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ISLAMIC FINANCE TODAY The pulse of ethical business July 2020 Fintech, An Enabler For Islamic Social Finance Zainab Ahsan Islamic bank as a Deposit -Taking Bank Saiful Azhar Rosly Why Takaful and Not Insurance? Rusni Hassan & Syed Ahmed Salman Smarter Sukuk Iman Ali Liaqat Role of Halal Investments in Controlling Inflation Lafeer Mufeeth Why Islamic Finance Ethica Institute ISSN 1800-1319 MIT Media and Publications INSIDE FINTECH Zainab Fida Ahsan ISLAMIC BANK Saiful Azhar Rosly IFT 4 An Enabler For Islamic Social Finance IFT 10 As Deposit taking bank WHY TAKAFUL Rusni Hassan SMARTER SUKUK Iman Ali Liaqat IFT 14 And not Insurance Syed Ahmed Salman IFT 21 Islamic Investment Certificates HALAL INVESTMENTS Lafeer Mufeeth ISLAMIC FINANCE Ethica Institute IFT 25 In Controlling Inflation IFT 28 A Basic Introduction EDITORIAL Better Times are Coming, God Willing All times are good times said a wise man If there’s one thing the pandemic proved- it once. Life is a cycle of birth and death, decay was that unbridled capitalism had utterly and renewal. Even what we think to be the failed humanity. It is in such trying times worst of times may well be the harbinger of that we realise more than ever the value of and lay the groundwork for the best of times. the Islamic scheme of things from its welfare The one thing that keeps us going is hope. system based on alms tax and charity to its Hope springs eternal in the human breast and time-tested financial system based on the where there is hope there is life. principles of mutual help and profit and loss sharing. It is with this message of hope that we present to you our readers a revived and renewed This is a system that is neither fickle nor Islamic Finance Today Digital Magazine, faithless and certainly not one that will coming at a time of global economic downturn abandon Rome to the wolves. Why, because in the midst of the COVID pandemic. You this system is a divinely given one with its may wonder at the timing of the release of roots firmly on the ground. It gives no room this third phase of IFT following on the heels for speculation and profiteering at the expense of the print version begun in 2006 and the of others by way of usury and other unethical online version started in 2015, but this is the means. And it is here to stay because there message we want to give- We are here to stay will always be a need for it, come what may. through thick and thin, because this is what Islamic Finance is all about! One bug has already hit the world and hit it hard, and there’s no need to pass the If there’s one thing that the crisis revealed bigger bug which is the bug of hopelessness as it unfolded, it is the utter failure of the and despair. Economic downturns and capitalist system based on human greed. depressions after all have a lot to do with Did not we see how the West responded to human mentalities just as much as it has to the pandemic. Italy was abandoned to the do with the conventional banking system. So wolves, so to say, by the rest of Europe and here’s to hope and to Islamic Finance to show the bulwark of capitalist commercialism, the the way out of these seemingly dark times. US could simply not handle the crisis because its entire system was only based on money Yes there’s light at the end of the tunnel. let’s making from its healthcare to other agencies. move towards it! Asiff Hussein Editor-in-Chief - Islamic Finance Today Editor in Chief - Asiff Hussein Layout & Design - Mohamed Aabith Proprietor & Producer - Muhammad Ikram Thowfeek Publisher - MIT Media and Publications No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without the prior written permission of the publisher. Views expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the publisher. FINTECH An Enabler For Islamic Social Finance By Zainab Fida Ahsan Islamic Finance Today - July 2020 IFT 4 he onset of change in our lives today, from technology to Tglobalization to climate change has led to a world of accelerating change from which new abundance and prosperity bloom, but where opportunity remains unjustly distributed. While the pace of development and progress towards Industry 4.0 is pretty impressive, there still remain vast differences in socio-economic empowerment and prosperity across demographies. Why FinTech Matters FinTech is the term given to financial service firms whose products or services are based upon technology, often resulting in highly innovative, pioneering services. Fintech firms are often characterized as high-growth, combining innovative business models and technology to disrupt the financial sector. FinTech has the potential of opening the floodgates of progress and financial inclusion, as it can help navigate both costs of operations as well as the tedious processes involved in creating regulatory changes in the workings of central authorities. While regulatory controls are of course necessary for any system to work efficiently, technology and digitalisation have enabled quicker processing and handling of economic interactions. This has led to the development of RegTech (Regulatory Technology) and initiatives by some progressive Central banks to establish sandboxes to support the startup ecosystem in their economies. Blockchain technology is a key mechanism deployed in FinTech projects and has created quite a hype in the financial world. The World Economic Forum predicts that 10 percent of the world’s GDP could be stored using blockchain by 2025. If just a fraction of the market could be replaced with peer-to-peer transactions and cryptocurrencies there could be huge potential benefits, especially the creation of opportunities in the developing world. One of the biggest issues that unbanked people face is financial literacy. Sometimes those who could be included don’t have the literacy skills to navigate the complex documentation required, or understand how the system as a whole will work. In fact, many of those that could acquire formal identification and finance simply don’t know how. 4 Islamic Finance Today - July 2020 IFT 5 Future of Blockchain Humaniq, a tech startup powered by blockchain technology, hopes to solve this problem by providing an easy-to-use interface that can be understood by anyone, regardless of language or educational background. The developers are using the smartphone revolution to help the developing world move a step closer to full-scale financial inclusion. Through facial recognition software, the application offers an alternative form of identification, allowing users to work, borrow, lend, save and pay across the internet. Humaniq creates win-win opportunities for both partners and the world’s poorest, using a system built upon humanitarian capitalism – profit with a purpose – that could empower lives and offer a high ROI for investors. International agencies such as the The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) are deploying cutting-edge blockchain technology to make cash-based transfers faster, cheaper and more secure. In Jordan’s Azraq camp, for example, 10,000 refugees are now able to pay for their food by means of entitlements recorded on a blockchain-based computing platform. This was developed by WFP as part of a pilot known as ‘Building Blocks’. WFP’s system relies on biometric registration data from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and uses biometric technology for authentication purposes. Refugees purchase food from local supermarkets in the camp by using a scan of their eye instead of cash, vouchers or e-cards. Islamic Finance Today - July 2020 IFT 6 Towards Financial Inclusion Many insights from the industry show recognition for the role of technology in revolutionizing many sectors of the global economy, and how finTech can further the cause of financial inclusion. There are interesting parallels with the development objectives envisioned in the Islamic tradition. Financial technology essentially disrupts traditional methods of delivering financial services, with philanthropic spending not being an exception. While crowdfunding solutions and blockchain are already being applied in certain jurisdictions to address social finance issues, there still remains a void of effective policies in the Islamic social welfare sector. Social finance is vitally important due to its scale, inclusiveness, and differentiation. According to Aamir A Rehman, Senior Advisor on Islamic Finance, UNDP, Social finance has long been a means for Islamic finance to contribute to the world. Embracing new technologies, enhanced governance practices, and international partnerships can help the sector expand its contributions and communicate these contributions as part of a common global cause. 6 Islamic Finance Today - July 2020 IFT 7 For instance, the Islamic Development Bank Group (IsDB) estimates the potential of Zakat alone to be as much as US$1 trillion per year. However, there is significant frustration with the lack of transparency, accountability and impact of traditional forms of giving. Crowdfunding initiatives that connect donors with entrepreneurs may be a promising solution to this frustration. One such initiative is Human Crescent, a new strategic platform that lends voice and support to displaced populations worldwide. By combining the power of storytelling by sharing the personal journeys of refugees, activists and influencers in the space with blockchain-driven crowdfunding, Human Crescent seeks to contextualise traditional beneficiary groups to humanitarian needs of the modern world. LaunchGood is a global crowdfunding platform to support Muslims all across the world by helping them raise funds for their campaigns. It is a powerful example of how the power of community and crowdgiving can create exponential impact in millions of lives. EthisCrowd, part of Ethis Ventures, is a successful Real Estate Islamic Crowdfunding Platform that enables people to invest in affordable social-housing projects.