“Can Aafaq Islamic Finance become the leading digital-first Islamic finance platform for UAE SMEs by embedding Shariah-compliant lending and payments at the merchant point-of-sale?”
Founded in 2006 as a Shariah-compliant finance company in the UAE, Aafaq Islamic Finance has evolved from a traditional Islamic finance provider into a digital-first Islamic fintech. The company has accelerated its digital transformation through key partnerships — selecting Network International for card processing and launching an embedded SME lending platform with Magnati in 2024. The Magnati partnership signals a deliberate move toward embedded finance, using real-time POS data to underwrite business loans at the point of merchant activity.
Aafaq Islamic Finance processes payments through Network International.
Aafaq Islamic Finance's cards are issued through Network International.
The Embedded Finance Index 2026 maps 3 layers in Aafaq Islamic Finance's stack: Payments / PSP (Network International); Card issuing (Network International); Lending (Personal Finance, Auto Finance (Murabaha), Property Finance, Commercial & SME Finance and 7 others).
Aafaq Islamic Finance is founded in 2006 and headquartered in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Get a read on where your own stack stands against Aafaq Islamic Finance and the rest of its category — what they built versus bought, which providers they use, and where the gaps in your own strategy and competitive set actually are.