The application of Fintech in microtakaful as a means of digital financial inclusion : insights from the GCC

The combination of Fintech and microtakaful can achieve financial inclusion at a massive level. Additionally, this combination offers other benefits like innovation, formalization of the economy, cost and time efficiency, and consumer protection, to mention a few. These challenges include, inter alia, privacy concerns, data protection challenges, fraud and cyber threats, as well as specific regulatory challenges that will be faced in the process of digital financial inclusion via microtakaful. The research also highlights a unique relationship between Islamic banking and takaful, on the one hand, and Islamic microfinance and microtakaful, on the other hand, thereby highlighting which countries can potentially become leaders in the sphere of microtakaful. The application of the value-based concept of microtakaful has the potential to develop, diversify, and support the real economy. This research proposes Fintech as an alternative mechanism of Islamic finance in the GCC region for the sustainable and real development of the economy. This study also finds that in the GCC, Fintech will bring disruption to several segments of the financial industry including banking and payments, credit and lending, insurance, investment management and pensions, just to mention few. The research has important implication for regulatory, microtakaful providers and other stakeholders of the industry in GCC.