Institute for Money, Technology & Financial Inclusion

This report also offers historical and theological contextualization for present-day debates and developments, overviews of commonly used Islamic (micro)finance products, and descriptions of key countries and institutions in the global Islamic (micro)finance industries. Examinations of the Islamic (micro)finance landscapes in Bangladesh, Indonesia, and Pakistan along with case studies of Islamic microfinance programs in Bangladesh and Pakistan illustrate the variation in relevant legal, political, economic, and geographic considerations. Ethnographic attention is given to the unique challenges faced by female clients and female-headed households, implications of client relationships with IMFI field officers, and the absence of tools for clients to address personal accounting and calculation challenges.

...there is a lack of relationships between Islamic microfinance and digital tools that could easily promote product and platform innovation and aid service provision. The report offers starting points for digital interventions to meet the needs of the poor while addressing longstanding cost and value chain inefficiencies in Islamic (micro)finance. The Islamic Development Bank is arguably the best-positioned institution to currently act as a research and development hub for Islamic microfinance, shaping and testing new products and services, optimal legal environments, and basic computing requirements. The scope for the collaboration is high and the capacity for innovation in this still-nascent industry, where supply has not met demand, should encourage impatient optimism of industry observers, providers, and clients alike.