Safaricom the largest telecommunications provider in Kenya has partnered with Gulf African Bank, a commercial bank in Kenya operating under an Islamic banking regime to launch the first Sharia-compliant mobile and digital banking solution named Halal Pesa.
According to Bank of England, Islamic finance is a way to manage money that keeps within the moral principles of Islam. It covers things like saving, investing, and borrowing to buy a home. Hence, Islamic banking involved services that rely on the principle of Shariah.
Halal Pesa aims to enable M-PESA clients who have previously been unable to obtain funding owing to constraints such as a lack of Shariah-compliant mobile facilities.
Abdalla Abdulkhalik, MD – Gulf African Bank said “Kenya is now a highly innovative, interconnected and fast-paced community that requires solutions on the go. All our digital offerings including Halal Pesa, seek to directly address this aspect. Our current strategy is focused on digitization for financial inclusion. Our aim is to provide instantaneous access to interest-free credit through Halal Pesa. We are glad that we could partner with a like-minded partner like Safaricom to advance this vision,”
Furthermore, according to a statement released by Safaricom, Customers who use the service to get finance will receive the requested money in full, with a 30-day payback period and a 5% commodity Murabaha margin.
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Halal Pesa is available as a Mini App on the M-PESA Super App under the “Grow” option and by dialling *334# under “Loans and Savings” for all M-PESA subscribers.
“We remain keen on partnerships that enable us to provide a wide variety of financial solutions that meet the diversified needs of our customers further broadening financial inclusion to ensure that we leave no one behind. Gulf African Bank is a strategic partner that will enable us deliver affordable and convenient M-PESA services such as Halal Pesa that are Shariah-compliant in”4 accordance to the Islamic faith,” said Peter Ndegwa, CEO -Safaricom.
When Halal Pesa was launched, it became Indonesia’s first Shariah-compliant mobile and digital banking solution. For a 30 day payback period at a 5 per cent commodities Murabaha margin, customers who use the service to get finance will get the desired money in whole and on time. The Kenyan introduction further established the growth of Islamic banking as part of the core digital financial service of Safaricom.