Beautiful Virgin Islands

Saturday, Sep 06, 2025

Saudi-backed fintech Wahed targets UK market with Niyah acquisition

Saudi-backed fintech Wahed targets UK market with Niyah acquisition

Niyah aims to help the underserved British Muslim community easily manage their money and invest in line with their faith

Wahed, an Islamic fintech start-up backed by Saudi Aramco, will acquire Niyah, a British banking app designed for Muslims.

New York-based Wahed said the acquisition would enable it to become a one-stop-shop for Islamic law-compliant digital financial products and services. Financial details weren’t disclosed.

Launched in 2017, Wahed delivers automated Islamic investment services catering to Muslims. The firm aims to balance Shariah and modern investment methods, avoiding companies that deal in restricted sectors such as gambling, firearms and alcohol.

Niyah, launched in an alpha release earlier this year, aims to help the underserved British Muslim community easily manage their money and invest in line with their faith.

Wahed’s acquisition of Niyah will honour the firm’s commitment to service the UK market by offering customers access to interest-free financial products including digital bank accounts, debit cards and investments through an user- friendly mobile app, the firm said in a statement.

Once the digital bank is successfully launched in the UK, Wahed plans to expand its banking reach to other parts of the world, including North America, Asia, Europe and the Middle East, it said.



Commenting on the acquisition, Junaid Wahedna (pictured above), CEO of Wahed said: ““Outside the Islamic world the UK has a long standing reputation as a leading fintech hub and a major centre for Islamic finance. Acquiring Niyah enables us to leverage the opportunities that Britain’s unique financial hub brings, and to tap into a wide and underserved customer base that is receptive to our service offering.”

According to Wes Schwalje, COO of Dubai-based research firm Tahseen Consulting, Wahed is looking to be a pioneer in the UK’s fintech space by acquiring Niyah.

"This acquisition will expedite its global expansion piggybacking on Niyah’s UK banking license. Although the acquisition is unlikely to provide the benefit of EU passporting due the stalled Brexit negotiations, there is a bigger global ambition beyond the UK behind this deal,” he said.

Schwalje (pictured below) said Niyah has been targeting Britain’s $5 billion assets held in Shariah-compliant financial institutions which have been slow to embrace technology. “However, the UK’s 3.4 million Muslims, and its small portion of global Shariah-compliant assets is a very small piece of what is a much more significant and quickly growing market with more upside in Africa, Europe, and Asia.,” the COO added.



Wahed is currently raising a significant Series A funding round which could see its valuation exceed $150 million. It will use this raise to finance the Niyah acquisition and accelerate its international expansion in Africa, Europe, and Asia, Schwalje said.

Tayyab Ahmed, Islamic Finance lead and associate partner at New York-based research consultancy Dinar Standard, said Wahed's acquisition of Niyah could signal "further consolidation" in the Islamic digital bank space.

“[This sector] has become somewhat crowded and is a tough chestnut to crack, given the difficult economics involved in digital banking generally - larger, well-known names such as Monzo and Revolut have faced much difficulty in generating profitability on a consistent basis,” he said.

“After the twin setbacks of Covid-19 and a global recession, challenger banks may well find 2021 to be a difficult year as consumers may choose in uncertain times to migrate to the digital bank arms of well-known traditional banks instead,” Ahmed added.

Despite the boom in “Shariatech” and technology plays targeting Muslim consumers, many US and European venture capitalists have not taken the time to understand the potential upside of this market, said Schwalje.

“It remains a very tough global fund raising environment for start-ups like Niyah to go after Sharia-conscious consumers," he added. “I expect more global VCs start to look at the Islamic fintech space in the coming years."

The Islamic finance industry is forecast to grow to $3.8 trillion in assets by 2020, according to a 2017 ICD-Reuters report. The UK boasts the biggest market for Islamic finance outside of majority Muslim geographies.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Trump Threatens Retaliatory Tariffs After EU Imposes €2.95 Billion Fine on Google
Tesla Board Proposes Unprecedented One-Trillion-Dollar Performance Package for Elon Musk
US Justice Department Launches Criminal Mortgage-Fraud Probe into Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook
Escalating Drug Trafficking and Violence in Latin America: A Growing Crisis
US and Taiwanese Defence Officials Held Secret Talks in Alaska
Report: Secret SEAL Team 6 Mission in North Korea Ordered by Trump in 2019 Ended in Failure
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Florida Murder Case: The Adelson Family, the Killing of Dan Markel, and the Trial of Donna Adelson
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
Big Tech Executives Laud Trump at White House Dinner, Unveil Massive U.S. Investments
Tether Expands into Gold Sector with Profit-Driven Diversification
‘Looks Like a Wig’: Online Users Express Concern Over Kate Middleton
Brand-New $1 Million Yacht Sinks Just Fifteen Minutes After Maiden Launch in Turkey
Here’s What the FBI Seized in John Bolton Raid — and the Legal Risks He Faces
Florida’s Vaccine Revolution: DeSantis Declares War on Mandates
Trump’s New War – and the ‘Drug Tyrant’ Fearing Invasion: ‘1,200 Missiles Aimed at Us’
"The Situation Has Never Been This Bad": The Fall of PepsiCo
At the Parade in China: Laser Weapons, 'Eagle Strike,' and a Missile Capable of 'Striking Anywhere in the World'
The Fashion Designer Who Became an Italian Symbol: Giorgio Armani Has Died at 91
Putin Celebrates ‘Unprecedentedly High’ Ties with China as Gazprom Seals Power of Siberia-2 Deal
China Unveils New Weapons in Grand Military Parade as Xi Hosts Putin and Kim
Queen Camilla’s Teenage Courage: Fended Off Attempted Assault on London Train, New Biography Reveals
Scottish Brothers Set Record in Historic Pacific Row
Rapper Cardi B Cleared of Liability in Los Angeles Civil Assault Trial
Google Avoids Break-Up in U.S. Antitrust Case as Stocks Rise
Couple celebrates 80th wedding anniversary at assisted living facility in Lancaster
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
The White House on LinkedIn Has Changed Their Profile Picture to Donald Trump
"Insulted the Prophet Muhammad": Woman Burned Alive by Angry Mob in Niger State, Nigeria
Trump Responds to Death Rumors – Announces 'Missile City'
Court of Appeal Allows Asylum Seekers to Remain at Essex Hotel Amid Local Tax Boycott Threats
Germany in Turmoil: Ukrainian Teenage Girl Pushed to Death by Illegal Iraqi Migrant
United Krack down on human rights: Graham Linehan Arrested at Heathrow Over Three X Posts, Hospitalised, Released on Bail with Posting Ban
Asian and Middle Eastern Investors Avoid US Markets
Ray Dalio Warns of US Shift to Autocracy
Eurozone Inflation Rises to 2.1% in August
Russia and China Sign New Gas Pipeline Deal
China's Robotics Industry Fuels Export Surge
Suntory Chairman Resigns After Police Probe
Gold Price Hits New All-Time Record
Von der Leyen's Plane Hit by Suspected Russian GPS Interference in an Incident Believed to Be Caused by Russia or by Pro-Peace or by Anti-Corruption European Activists
UK Fintechs Explore Buying US Banks
Greece Suspends 5% of Schools as Birth Rate Drops
Apollo to Launch $5 Billion Sports Investment Vehicle
Bolsonaro Trial Nears Close Amid US-Brazil Tension
European Banks Push for Lower Cross-Border Barriers
Poland's Offshore Wind Sector Attracts Investors
Nvidia Reveals: Two Mystery Customers Account for About 40% of Revenue
Woody Allen: "I Would Be Happy to Direct Trump Again in a Film"
×