The challenger bank aims to solve mainstream banking issues for Muslims in the West, which is in line with their lifestyle, the CEO added. Muslims in the UK still use interest-based or conventional current accounts because they do not see a true alternative, Saleem continued.
Established in late February 2020, Rizq will be both an app and web-based digital challenger bank. It plans to do an alpha or soft launch in April 2020 or May 2020 with a small group of individuals, followed by a full launch in June 2020. However, this may be pushed to July 2020, because of the current operating environment hit by the coronavirus outbreak.
The company has applied for a license from regulator the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), with the registration being on track for acceptance by May 29, 2020. The digital challenger will offer a current account to begin with and then launch a premium account at a later stage. Furthermore, the company is working with a large card provider and to offer a debit card for both accounts. The platform will offer other features including shared accounts, budget analysis and cashback features and functionality developments such as an auto-donation function which allows users to give to charity.
Rizq is eyeing 500 to 1,500 people at its alpha launch and the goal is to have at least 45,000 customers by the end of 2020. UK-based Niyah, which launched earlier in 2020, and Germany-based Insha, which has yet to launch in the UK, are direct competitors.
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