The research arm of Saudi Arabia’s Islamic Development Bank Group is aiming to develop a blockchain-based smart credit management system with the help of Blocko.
The bank’s Islamic Research and Training Institute has partnered with the Samsung-backed blockchain provider Blocko.
IRTI Partners with #Samsung-backed #Blocko’s #E24P to Launch #Blockchain-based Smart Credit Management Platform Read the full story: https://t.co/BmuUepFZrh @isdb_group @IDBGTHIQAH — IRTI IsDB GROUP (@IRTI_IDB) June 15, 2020
The partnership comes as a part of the E24P regional consortium launched by Blocko across the Middle East, Africa, and South-East Asia in April.
As the Islamic finance industry is predicted to grow from $2 trillion to $3.78 trillion by 2022, Dr. Sami Al Suwailem, director general of IRTI, says there still are various technical and economic challenges that “prevent the industry from truly flourishing.”
Unlike traditional financial organizations, Islamic banks do not charge interest on loans or penalise loan defaulters but rather charge a late fee donated to charity.
However, this approach eliminates the urgency for borrowers to pay back their loans. Additionally, such banks also face the difficulty of efficiently distributing the late fees to charity.
The smart credit management system is being developed by E24P and IRTI. It will be based on the Aergo hybrid blockchain and expected to put an incentive mechanism in place that will encourage timely repayments.
It will also automatically contribute the fees to insurance pools that cover the loan defaults.
The blockchain credit system is said to help both Islamic banks and other financial institutions conduct credit assessments in a more secure and transparent manner, without compromising on the privacy of the involved parties.
The CEO of E24P Phil Zamani, says that the system will help banks:
“deliver a truly unique solution that has the potential to have a significant impact on the world of Islamic finance.”
It may further reduce the costs and operation difficulties by including the otherwise restricted financing functions such as credit reporting, credit rating, credit history, and credit insurance.
Source: Cointelegraph | Image: Unsplash