According to a recent industry report, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, and the UAE are at the forefront of global Islamic fintech advancement, with transaction volumes expected to reach $341 billion by 2029.
The Global Islamic Fintech Report for the year 2025/26, published by DinarStandard and Elipses, highlighted that these three nations are positioned as highly favorable environments worldwide on the Global Islamic Fintech Index.
Also Read: French President Leaves for New Delhi, Concludes Mumbai Visit
This index assesses factors such as talent, regulation, infrastructure, market maturity, and access to capital. The report emphasized the proactive measures being taken by Gulf Cooperation Council economies to establish themselves as a central hub for Shariah-compliant digital financial services.
It was approximated that global Islamic fintech transaction volumes reached $198 billion in the year 2024/25 and are forecasted to grow with an annual rate of 11.5 percent until 2029. This growth rate slightly surpasses that of the wider fintech industry, which is expected to expand at a rate of around 11 percent annually during the same timeframe.
Huzayfa Patel, who oversees digital assets and fintech development at the Qatar Financial Center, stated that in the past ten years, fintech has become an integral part of financial services and consumer habits. He also mentioned that the revenue of the fintech market is expected to increase fivefold to $1.5 trillion by the year 2030, mainly due to the rapid expansion of digital access compared to traditional options.
Also Read: Malaysia, Japan Plan Major Cross-Border Carbon Capture Project
He further mentioned that the growth of Islamic fintech is occurring in concert with increasing interest in ethical and Shariah-compliant financial instruments. The industry currently consists of 484 global Islamic fintech companies, with 30 organizations recognized as significant participants due to their innovative approach, financial backing, and international growth strategies.
Experts in the field have pointed out that obstacles to expansion include challenges related to obtaining funding, adhering to regulatory standards, educating customers about the services offered, and incurring high costs for acquiring new clients.
The study revealed that Saudi Arabia, Iran, Malaysia, and the UAE are among the top 10 countries in terms of Islamic fintech transaction volume, along with Indonesia, Kuwait, and Turkiye, as well as Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Qatar.
Najmul Haque Kawsar, a senior consultant at DinarStandard, emphasized that Saudi Arabia has implemented a national infrastructure to facilitate regulated real estate tokenization and digital ownership transfers. This underscores the Kingdom's commitment to enhancing digital financial services.
Digital assets are increasingly being seen as an evolving aspect of Islamic finance. Daniel Ahmed, one of the co-founders and the chief operating officer at Fasset, highlighted that conversations within the Islamic finance community regarding cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology have mostly centered on their compatibility with Islamic principles.
Also Read: Viet Nam's Tourism Sector Makes Strong Impression at EXPO 2026
According to the report, there is a growing focus on practical applications involving stablecoins and central bank digital currencies for transactions, the tokenization of tangible assets for distribution, and the integration of Shariah-compliant governance principles into digital financial platforms.
In the beginning of 2026, stablecoins had a collective market value of approximately $317 billion, positioning them as a progressively significant method of settlement. In contrast, tokenized assets tied to real-world assets maintained a more modest value of around $4.31 billion.
The area is experiencing an increase in regulatory actions. Abu Dhabi's FIDA cluster, which focuses on fintech, insurance, digital, and alternative assets, is working towards establishing high-quality digital asset infrastructure with regulatory oversight.
The Digital Dirham initiative, incorporating wholesale and retail central bank digital currencies, has been introduced by the central bank of the UAE as a component of a comprehensive Financial Infrastructure Transformation Program. Malaysia, in a similar vein, has released a discussion paper on asset tokenization, indicating a transition from exploratory endeavors to regulatory supervision.