Embedded finance is turning every app and every checkout into a potential financial services touchpoint. Joining me today is Najwan Alalawi, AVP and Head of FinTech Partnerships at Mawarid Finance. Najwan, welcome to the show.
Thank you for having me.
Embedded finance is a term that means different things to different people. What does it actually look like in practice at Mawarid Finance?
At its core, embedded finance means putting financial products exactly where customers need them — without them having to go to a bank. For us, that means working with partners in retail, HR platforms, e-commerce, and other ecosystems to embed Sharia-compliant financial products directly into their customer journeys. A customer might get a financing option at checkout, or access a salary advance through their employer’s HR system — without ever thinking of it as a bank transaction. The Islamic finance element is non-negotiable for us. But the delivery is invisible.
Digital payments are evolving fast in the UAE. Where does Mawarid Finance sit in that ecosystem?
We sit at the intersection of traditional Islamic finance and digital infrastructure. The UAE has built one of the most sophisticated payment ecosystems in the world — instant rails, digital wallets, open finance frameworks. Our role is to connect Sharia-compliant financial products to those rails. That means working with payment technology providers, digital wallet players, and fintechs who are building the distribution — and ensuring that what flows through those rails meets the standards our customers expect.
What makes fintech partnerships work and what makes them fail?
The partnerships that work are the ones where both sides understand each other’s constraints from day one. A fintech wants to move fast. A regulated financial institution has compliance, Sharia governance, and risk frameworks that cannot move at the same speed. The partnerships that fail are the ones where those realities are not aligned upfront. The ones that succeed are built on a shared understanding of what each party brings — the fintech brings speed, distribution, and technology; we bring regulatory standing, Islamic finance expertise, and the customer trust that comes with being a licensed institution.
The UAE is moving toward more open finance. How does that change what is possible for a company like Mawarid?
Open finance is genuinely exciting for us. When customers can share their financial data across institutions securely, it becomes possible to build much more personalised and relevant financial products — assessing affordability more accurately, understanding spending patterns, identifying the right moment to offer a product. For an Islamic finance institution, that also means being much more precise about ensuring what we offer is appropriate — not just compliant, but genuinely suitable.
What is the one thing you wish more fintechs understood about working with Islamic financial institutions?
That Sharia compliance is not a checkbox — it is a design principle. The best fintech partners we have worked with came in wanting to understand it, not work around it. When a fintech genuinely understands why the structure matters — why the product has to be asset-backed, why interest cannot be part of the return — they build better products. The fintechs that try to retrofit compliance at the end of the process always struggle. Embed it from the beginning and it becomes a competitive advantage, not a constraint.
Najwan, thank you so much for joining us today.
Thank you for having me.
