KUALA LUMPUR (May 25): The Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) has teamed up with the United Nations Capital Development Fund’s (UNCDF) Centre for Financial Health programme to launch the FIKRA Islamic Fintech Accelerator Programme, an innovation programme to develop a vibrant Islamic fintech innovation ecosystem in Malaysia’s Islamic capital market (ICM).

As of today, the progamme had started its first initiative focusing on fintech for Malaysia’s ICM, according to a statement.

The goal of the programme is to identify and scale innovative Islamic fintech solutions that would solve three main challenges — new ICM offerings, accessibility and social finance integration.

“Islamic fintech in the Malaysian capital market is still in a nascent stage, but there is great potential for exponential growth with the right ecosystem.

“The accelerator and future initiatives under FIKRA will advance the development of Islamic fintech while creating an ecosystem that nurtures talent, funds innovation, commercialises ideas and solutions, and creates jobs and opportunities,” said SC chairman Datuk Syed Zaid Albar.

According to the SC, fintech start-ups that take part in FIKRA's first accelerator initiative will "benefit from regulatory guidance, the programme’s mentorship, social networks and more". 

"The methodologies used for the programme are developed by the UNCDF based on their prior experience running innovation challenges through their Financial Innovation Lab (FinLab) and now scaled to address finance-related initiatives under the Centre for Financial Health.

“Participants will also have an opportunity to work closely with FIKRA’s industry partners, such as Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd, Gobi Partners, Kenanga Investment Bank Bhd and Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB)," said the commission.

The SC also stated that registration for the programme is open currently and it is scheduled to start in July 2021.