Ethical Finance vs. Traditional Banking: Who Really Serves the Unbanked?

Globally, 2 billion adults remain unbanked, and nearly half of them — 47% — are Muslims. This means around 940 million individuals lack access to essential financial services like banking, payments, insurance, and credit, either due to personal choice or systemic barriers.

This financial gap isn’t just about access — it’s about a lack of financial solutions that align with Islamic values. Many Muslims remain unbanked because mainstream banking often conflicts with their religious principles. Islam, as a religion, prohibits financial transactions involving riba (interest) and financial products based on speculation (maysir) and uncertainty (gharar).

However, innovative Sharia-compliant crypto networks like Caiz are bringing ethical, forward-looking financial products that stand for equity, compliance, justice, and inclusion. Caiz is the first Fiqh-compliant hybrid blockchain-based financial ecosystem for billions of financially underserved and unbanked people in the Islamic world.

Why Does Half of The Muslim Population Remain Unbanked Even Today?

The Islamic population is spread across the globe, with high concentrations in the UAE and MENA countries. The failure to provide accessible, ethical financial services to Muslims stems from infrastructural roadblocks.

Lack of Sharia Compliant Financial Products/Services: Traditional banks operate on riba (interest), gharar (uncertainty), and maysir (speculation) — all of which are prohibited in Islam. As a result, many financial products, including loans and investment options, fail to meet Sharia-compliant standards.

Lack of enough Islamic Banks: It is not as if Islamic banks don’t exist. In fact, Saudi Arabia has the largest share of Islamic banking assets at 32%, and Iran comes second with 16%. The Islamic banking sector is, however, concentrated in the Gulf regions, leaving millions of Muslims in want of an ethical bank that serves their religious beliefs.

Problems with Islamic Banks: Islamic banks face their own challenges — limited support for small businesses, a lack of ethical investment options, late payment penalties, and ownership structures that don’t always align with Islamic values.

Mistrust and Ethical Concerns: Conventional banking is known to have issues like hidden fees, unethical practices, and economic exploitation. Most Muslims don’t trust banks and prefer cash-based exchanges. Also, due to the element of riba and gharar, Muslims refrain from engaging in traditional investments.

While there are Islamic financial services, people remain oblivious to them. For instance, 60% of the SMEs in Malaysia remained unaware of Islamic financial facilities in their country in 2019. The lack of financial awareness and high poverty rates are other reasons conventional banking remains inaccessible.

Lack of Sharia-compliant cryptos: Even in the world of crypto, truly Jaiz-compliant options are scarce. Most cryptocurrencies operate on high speculation and volatility, making them incompatible with Islamic finance principles. Most crypto prices are based on speculation and hype. Even Bitcoin, which is viewed as the most Islamic crypto in terms of its features, can be susceptible to speculation and volatility.

In the face of such challenges, only Sharia-compliant blockchains and cryptocurrencies like Caiz can serve the Islamic ideals and ethical investments Muslims prefer all over the world.

How Caiz Is Bringing Islamic Banking To Within Your Hands’ Reach

Caiz, the first hybrid Fiqh-compliant blockchain, is built to address specific challenges the greater Islamic world faces today. It is built to empower individuals and businesses via its fair and fast transactions, equitable and ethical financial services, and passive income-earning opportunities without riba or any prohibited form of finance in Islam.

Here’s how Caiz is putting the control in the user’s hands:

Compliance and Trust: Caiz has a hybrid infrastructure model of two distinct layers. The first layer comprises a decentralized blockchain based on the IFBA (Islamic Federated Byzantine Agreement) consensus model. This model is built on the principles of Islamic ethics, and the validators are all verified stakeholders.

The second layer is the centralized layer on top of the blockchain which controls the compliance to Sharia standards and also on-ramp and off-ramp transactions taking place within the ecosystem. This DeCe model forms the crux of Caiz’s Sharia-compliant model and adds a layer of trust in the trustless blockchain ecosystem.

Ubiquity: Anyone with a mobile phone and internet connection can become a part of the Caiz ecosystem and build themselves an ethical wealth source. Unlike traditional banks with physical setups, the Caiz ecosystem is built for the masses, controlled by codes, and accessible to anyone regardless of sex, religion, caste, creed, race, etc.

Imagine how many women with limited access to the outside world can become a part of the financial ecosystem!

Ethical Finance: Caiz ecosystem strictly adheres to the Islamic principles of finance and investment. There are proper setups in place to control the level of risk involved. Smart contracts automate ethical financial agreements.

Profit-sharing/Zero-interest model: The lending and credit are all interest-free, and most transactions involve stablecoins or are backed by real-world assets. The Know Your Business (KYB) protocol ensures any business or bank seeking to integrate Caiz is Sharia-compliant.

Caiz supports stablecoins backed by dollar, gold, euro, etc. There’s no uncertainty or speculation involved. The platform also supports fair profit sharing, charity, and economic inclusivity.

Users can benefit from a wide range of products and services, including Caiz API for businesses, Caiz Earn, the ethical DeFi, Caiz Gold, a stablecoin, Caiz App, Caiz Scan, Caiz wallet, and Caiz’s native blockchain, Caiz Chain.

Caiz is Rewriting Finance in the Islamic and Greater World

Caiz is built to serve and uphold ethics, inclusivity, and innovation to serve billions of financially underserved and unbanked populations in the world.While built with Islamic principles, Caiz isn’t just for Muslims — it’s for anyone seeking ethical, sustainable, and fair financial solutions.