DEVELOPING FINTECH AND ISLAMIC FINANCE PRODUCTS IN AGRICULTURAL VALUE CHAIN

To meet the global population needs, it is projected to at least eighty billion dollars in investment per year to support the food security until 2050. It is widely known that the agriculture financing growth has stalled due to many reasons. Islamic finance has potential to spur the growth of agriculture financing to promote global food security. Meanwhile, agriculture in Indonesia is still nowhere to its potential. It is hindered by an inefficient and underdeveloped downstream segment, low access to financial and technology. This is a huge opportunity for Islamic finance in helping to bridge the gap through value chain finance approach as one of the strategies to reduce risk and give socio-economic spill-over effect along the chain. Islamic finance can promote agricultures sustainability and a more efficient process with FinTech enabled platform. The multiple case study proposes a sharia compliant community-based financing model in agricultural value chain practice with FinTech enabled platform. The result is this model integrating all actors from different market segmentation (landowners, suppliers, farmers, brokers, retailers, investor) into an Islamic value chain financing platform. However, determining buying intention, partnership establishment, and technology infrastructure are pivotal for its future implementation

Exploring the Synergy Between Financial Technologies and Financial Inclusion: What We Know and Where We Should Be Heading?

Background: Innovative financial technologies (fintech) are gradually changing how financial transactions and processes are conducted. The adoption of fintech not only benefits the financial sector but can also have a broader impact on society. Due to their ability to provide customized services to a wide range of stakeholders, fintech is gaining traction and experiencing significant growth. Compared to traditional financial institutions, fintech companies can reach a wider audience and operate more efficiently. In addition to upending traditional financial services, fintech can also provide financial services to marginalized groups. We argue that fintech research and practice should focus on seizing opportunities and addressing challenges related to financial inclusion, especially in emerging markets. Method: We conducted a systematic literature review of 178 articles to understand the relationship between fintech and financial inclusion. Results: Our analysis highlights six fintech research themes: fintech and financial inclusion, fintech adoption and use, fintech and sectoral growth, fintech and lending, and technology shaping the fintech. We also present four future themes (basic, driving, niche, and emerging or declining research) that can accelerate financial inclusion. Conclusions: This study highlights the synergies between fintech and financial inclusion research. This study contributes to existing knowledge in three ways. First, the descriptive analysis maps existing research on fintech and financial inclusion. Second, the qualitative analysis provides a comprehensive overview of how fintech and financial inclusion topics is interconnected. Third, future research areas for fintech and financial inclusion were identified. In general, fintech democratizes financial inclusion for the unbanked and marginalized communities while reducing operating costs. Governments should promote financial inclusion among those most vulnerable and affected by global threats

Fintech urbanism in the startup capital of Africa

From innovations in mobile money to bookkeeping devices, the burgeoning of financial-technologies (fintech) in the Global South has been critiqued by scholars concerned with financialization, datafication, and recently, neo-coloniality. While sympathetic to these concerns, this paper argues for a more descriptive, ambivalent, and urban reading of the implications and stakes of this fintech boom. Using Cape Town as a case study, we explore how the city has become and positioned itself as a/the capital of fintech innovation in Africa. With two detailed vignettes that look respectively at the recent histories of business process offshoring in the city and at the cycles of experimentation that via Cape Town bring fintech to the rest of the continent, we make three arguments. First, that the urban state has been instrumental in shaping how fintech lands in cities and how the infrastructures which support it develop. Second, that diverse cultural economies of experimentation engender the worlding practices through which local fintech ecosystems operate. Overall, we suggest that paying attention to these different ways in which fintech is enabled and mobilized by the urban state opens a necessary research agenda into the ambivalence of financial innovation in Africa

THE CARROT AND THE STICK: OPEN BANKING PLATFORM GOVERNANCE IN THE SHADOW OF PSD2

This paper employs a qualitative analytical approach to address the question of how incumbents incorporate risk into their platform strategy, and how this in turn influences their approach to platform governance. Through an analysis of legislative and policy documents on the formulation and implementation of PSD2 in Sweden and the EU, 24 semi-structured interviews with experts and organisational representatives in the Swedish banking sector, and literature from the fields of strategic innovation and financial sector governance, we conduct the grounded analytical development of a model linking risk assessment to platform governance among incumbent banks. Our model suggests an iterative three-stage process, involving translation, mobilisation, and incorporation as platform owners at banks try to balance openness and perceived platform risks. We identify a conflation of access openness and resource openness: platform owners decide resource openness ex ante, as part of their overarching strategy around what kind of platform to have, and then once they have the platform in place make decisions about platform access on a case-by-case basis, based on their risk assessments

A Phenomenon-driven Exploration of Regulatory Sandboxes in FinTech Entrepreneurial Ecosystems

Paper I is not published yet.Research on incubation models has indicated that business incubators and accelerators, among others, are crucial catalysts for the development of new ventures in numerous industries. To facilitate testing and validation of new financial technology (FinTech) providers, and protect financial markets against systemic risks, a new incubation model called the ‘regulatory sandbox’ has been established or announced by regulatory authorities in more than 50 countries. Sandboxes are virtual trial-and-error instruments that grant financial market participants temporary licensing relief and thus provide the opportunity to test novel solutions in a controlled, real-world environment and engage with regulators who offer guidance and supervision. Despite the potential benefits of sandboxes for innovation and financial market stability, the management literature on the phenomenon is scarce, limiting our understanding of how regulatory sandboxes operate, how they differ from other incubation models and how regulator-regulatee interactions enable innovation and regulation practices. This doctoral dissertation addresses these gaps. In addition to the empirical exploration of regulatory sandboxes, an ecosystem perspective to entrepreneurship is adopted to understand how interactions among ecosystem actors contribute to new ventures in the FinTech context that hosts sandboxes. Conceptually, this study also reviews the literature on innovation facilitators and offers a research agenda. Grounded in a critical realist paradigm, the key methodological choices feature a qualitative research design driven by an exploratory-abductive approach and the Gioia methodology. With regard to data, 35 semi-structured interviews have been conducted, 39 archival documents from 5 leading regulatory sandboxes analysed and 46 research articles content analysed. The key contribution of this research is to the incubation literature by extending our knowledge of a unique incubation model and establishing a knowledge-based foundation for future research. Additionally, important contributions are made to the emerging fields of entrepreneurial ecosystems and FinTech research by conducting an empirical exploration and suggesting theoretical propositions to motivate future research.publishedVersio

Potential Development of Islamic Fintech in Supporting the Growth of the Halal Industry

Background: The halal industry and Islamic fintech are two sectors that are growing rapidly. Both have great potential to support the growth of the Islamic economy and finance. However, there is still potential that has yet to be fully utilized in the development of Islamic fintech to support the growth of the halal industry.   Objectives: This paper aims to identify the potential development of Islamic fintech in supporting the growth of the halal industry and analyze the implications of such development. Novelty: This study provides a deeper understanding of the potential and implications of the development of Islamic fintech in the context of the halal industry. This study also guides industry players in utilizing Islamic fintech to support the growth of the halal industry and strengthen the literature and knowledge related to the development of Islamic fintech in the context of the halal industry. Research Methodology / Design: This study uses a qualitative research approach by conducting a literature review on the development of Islamic fintech and the halal industry. The data obtained is compiled and analyzed to identify the potential development of Islamic fintech in supporting the growth of the halal industry. Findings: This study reveals several important findings. First, government involvement in regulatory development has supported the growth of Islamic fintech in the halal industry. Second, collaboration between the technology industry and the financial sector has accelerated the progress of Islamic fintech and optimized financial accessibility in the halal industry. Third, the improvement of Islamic financial literacy and education is an important factor in increasing the adoption of Islamic fintech in the halal industry. Lastly, the utilization of appropriate technologies, such as blockchain and artificial intelligence, has boosted the growth of the halal industry through Islamic fintech. Implication: The development of Islamic fintech can make a positive contribution to the growth of the halal industry by providing financial solutions that comply with Sharia principles. This opens up opportunities to increase the competitiveness of the halal industry globally. The implications of this study can also serve as a guide for the government, technology industry, Islamic financial institutions, and halal industry players in optimizing the development of Islamic fintech and increasing financial inclusion in the halal industry

A Social Ecosystem Model: conceptual developments and implications for VET

This article focuses on the conceptual development of a Social Ecosystem Model (SEM) that connects the worlds of working, living and learning. The inclusion of ‘living’ in the learning equation results from critical reflections on new powerful dynamics within capitalism - wealth creation of FinTech ‘entrepreneurial ecosystems’ and their social exclusionary effects on cities and their populations. The inclusive social ecosystem model results from conceptual extensions to existing skills ecosystem models by adopting a holistic perspective of the ‘working-living-learning’ nexus in urban locations and, in doing so, draws attention to the facilitating roles for national and local government working with the public and private sectors and further and higher education. The article concludes by exploring the implications of the SEM for spatial and place-based approaches to VET and the critical contribution of new forms of partnership working and the role of further education colleges as local anchor institutions