During 2013, new market dynamics in Islamic finance continued to develop as institutions providing financial services invested in infrastructure, expanded their product portfolios and moved to service new customers. Numerous financial institutions have started to focus on expanding their product line to reflect the needs of customers, while other institutions have concentrated on enlarging their customer base by targeting new demographic groups.
The way in which Islamic finance is maturing brings to mind an old Arab proverb: “Aspiration is not a defect for youngsters.” Many banks now share a common aspiration to provide sharia-compliant services to greater numbers of people in domestic markets. Over the past decade, the lion’s share of development in Islamic finance was concentrated in four key areas: infrastructure development, corporate finance, wealth management and takaful.
