Waafi Bank partners with The Bank of London to tap into UK market

By Gloria Methri

Malaysia’s Waafi Bank has selected The Bank of London as its banking services provider to help it enter the UK market with its Shariah-compliant banking offering.

Founded in 2020, Waafi’s vision is ‘to bring Islamic banking to every corner of the globe’ and provide Muslims with access to financial solutions that align with their faith. Unlike other banks, which invest, leverage and loan out client deposits, The Bank of London, keeps all client money in full of the Bank of England.

This supports Waafi Bank’s mission to ensure fair, accessible and trustworthy banking that provides Muslims with access to financial solutions aligning with their faith.

“From the very first meeting, The Bank of London understood our needs when it comes to providing Shariah-compliant accounts. It’s important to us that the bank we look to help our business grow is not leveraging, loaning or investing any money we deposit somewhere else. We are delighted to partner with The Bank of London as we expand our business into the UK,” said Dr Ashraf Iqbal, Waafi Bank Chairman.

“We are pleased to announce Waafi as a client partner and play our part in supporting their move into the UK market. For businesses like Waafi seeking a bank partner they can trust, our operating model aligns with and supports their growth ambitions. We look forward to building on our relationship with Waafi as it continues to expand its offering,” said Felipe Hillard, The Bank of London’s Chief Client Officer.

The Bank of London is a principal UK clearing bank. With a ‘safer by design’ approach, deposits with the bank are not loaned, invested, or leveraged. All client money is held securely at the Bank of England and available on demand.

The bank provides business-to-business banking solutions, including:

• Agency, clearing, payment and settlement solutions;
• Embedded Banking (BaaS), making it possible for companies to embed regulated banking products into their customer offerings under their brand and powered by the bank’s licence and platform;
• Commercial Banking, serving SMEs as well as corporate, government and institutional clients.