Waqfinity launches in UK to provide “impact focused” Islamic finance
A new digital app and wallet has launched in the UK providing Islamic finance.
Waqfinity is still in development
Waqfinity is a Birmingham-based digital wallet and mobile application. It promises a new “impact focused Islamic financial eco-system”.
Its website, still in development, says the app is focused on social empowerment.
Waqf, Arabic for “endowment”, involves donating a fixed asset which can provide a financial return or benefit.
The practice stems from the ninth century, and is based on several sayings of the prophet Muhammed.
Muslims giving waqf typically donate a building, land, or cash with no intention of reclaiming the value gained from them.
Waqfinity’s CEO, Akmal Saleem, is an investor at toy retailer, Ibraheem Toy House.
He has experience founding Islamic financial products, having launched UK Islamic digital bank Rizq and Saudi-based Maarij Wealth.
Joining Saleem is Sultan Choudhury, as executive chairman. Choudhury is a board advisor for the UK’s Islamic Finance Council. He spent 15 years as the CEO of UK Islamic bank Al Rayan, leaving in July 2019.
Related: Bank of England’s Islamic liquidity announcement “a huge vote of confidence”
