Some fintech startups are setting the ground for women to have a hand in financial investments with ease and accessibility, bridging the gap between financial literacy and Muslim women.
One example of this is Ayda, a financial literacy platform specifically targeting Muslim women. The woman behind it, Uneesa Zaman, has a background in helping women become more knowledgeable in 'Halal' finance. Originally from the UK, Zaman is now based in the UAE and will launch 'Ayda' in the coming month.
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“We are in an era now where the ease of access to financial products is better than ever. The problem is the way it's being communicated,” Zaman said. Ayda, which is being marketed as 'pop culture meets Islamic finance', will feature courses that delve into finance, both basics and advanced topics, and will have an AI chatbot.
The AI chatbot uses pop culture slang to communicate; when Zaman was asked if this may be controversial, she said:“The way things have been communicated in Islamic finance, if we were to continue doing it in that way, we're not going to go anywhere. Sometimes you need to change things to develop some semblance of understanding amongst your target audience.”
According to Zaman, if a Muslim woman does not know the rulings surrounding finance, she will not act.“That gap in knowledge is what's preventing women from taking that next step,” she said.
A 2024 report by the Swiss company UBS, based on a survey of 600 women in the Mena region, stated that almost half of women (48 per cent) have a low understanding of information related to investments. However, the survey also showed that women are increasingly interested in investing, with 62 per cent of respondents looking to seek out more information about investment opportunities.
Fintech vs traditional finance
Fasset, a UAE-based digital asset exchange platform, is also trying to push more women to join the financial investments space. Its co-founder, Daniel Ahmed, said that there are a lot of programmes designed to help women learn more about digital assets.
“I think there's issues that women face [in general] and for Muslim women, there's another layer which is the whole Shariah-compliant side,” he said.“The whole point now is bringing accessibility of Shariah-compliant assets to people. Another issue is that especially in the crypto space, it's easier to access tokens and investments that may be interest-based,” he explained.
In terms of helping women become more financially literate, Ahmed said that Fasset is focused on three main things – literacy, accessibility, and confidence.“Financial empowerment comes from literacy, awareness comes from access, which then increases confidence. Those three things are the components that will get women into finance, including Muslim women,” he said.
According to Ahmed, the number of women who participate in fintech is much higher than female participants in traditional finance. This is because financial technology is generally more accessible, he said, and“the second main thing is education and awareness, because another benefit of fintech is that they help people understand what their product is.”
By 2030, Fasset hopes to have at least $100 million worth assets owned by women on its platform. Ahmed added that he hopes to see more women investing in digital assets the near future.“The beauty of crypto and digital assets is it is a decentralised component, meaning it is accessible to all,” he said.
“If we enable some initiatives to make it easier for women to get it, then the idea is that in five to 10 years from now, the participation of people in crypto should be equal,” Ahmed added.