Fintech adopts Sharia to win customers in Indonesia

As banking by phone and digital payments continue to gain traction in Indonesia, fintech firms are looking to align themselves with Islam in the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country.

Compliance with Islamic law is a big hurdle to fintech services, Reuters reports.

Only half of Indonesia’s 270 million population have bank accounts, but almost all now have mobile phones, making the fintech opportunity obvious.

Sharia, however, bans the charging of interest, and Islamic scholars in Indonesia are not in full agreement over whether such things as cashback rebates and discounts given by digital wallets fall into this category.

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