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Recorded live in front of an audience at Muslim Tech Fest.
This episode asks whether the UK can actually become the global capital of Islamic finance — why halal home finance still costs 2% more than a conventional mortgage, why liquidity is the real bottleneck, and what it took to get the first partnership between an Islamic bank and an Islamic fintech over the line.
Guest experts: Raza Ullah, founder & CEO of Pfida, and Hamdi Abdullah, General Manager of Maybank UK
This podcast is hosted by Areeb Siddiqui, the founder and CEO of Kestrl, the app that helps people to grow their wealth without compromise. Download our app and order your card here: https://kestrl.io/
⏱️ TIMESTAMPS
0:00 Intro: is Islamic finance really Islamic?
1:20 Meet the panel: Pfida, Maybank and Kestrl
2:05 £1m in 15 weeks — and why the UK may be the best place in the world to do Islamic finance
5:35 Ten years in: how UK Muslims got educated on riba7:58 Why Muslim-majority markets use Islamic finance less than we do
10:20 The 2% problem: why halal home finance costs more11:42 Liquidity is the real bottleneck — and why Maybank partnered instead of going it alone13:20 Pfida: built by the community, for the community
15:20 Community money vs institutional money: the case for a hybrid17:28 What success looks like in 5–10 years
19:50 Do we even call it Islamic? ESG, participation banking and silent dawah
22:08 Competition, Hajj and how big this market actually is
23:59 "Don't become a bank" — and will other Islamic banks follow Maybank?
25:55 Europe, France and why North America excites us more
29:46 Debanking, masjids and the case for business banking
31:23 Consolidation, exits and protecting the mission
34:19 Where should a Muslim charity put £1 million?
40:10 Do VCs want Islamic fintech — and do we want them?
43:09 What's next: Sharia-compliant insurance and credit cards
#IslamicFinance #IslamicFintech #MuslimMoneyTalk #HalalInvesting #Maybank #Pfida #MuslimTechFest #HalalMortgage #FinancialLiteracy #MuslimPodcast #Kestrl
