The evolution and development of Information Systems (IS) in the banking sector can be traced back to the 1800s, from the introduction of the telegraphic system in the US. Today, sophisticated systems and state of the art technology are widely used in the banking sector, and multi-channel banking makes it much easier and less rushed for us all.
The emerging and niche Islamic fi nance market has to stay highly technology driven in order to maintain a competitive edge over others and deliver fast and quality customer service within Shariah parameters. There are more than 300 Islamic Financial Institutions (IFIs) globally managing more than US$1 trillion, a fi gure expected to reach US$4 trillion by 2012. Industry experts maintain that the industry is growing at a rate of 10% to 15% per annum across borders even in non- Muslims countries.
IFIs must create a robust IT platform of solutions to deliver technology driven innovative products and services to their clientele. There are more than 35 global and regional vendors that offer Islamic Banking System (IBS) services for Islamic banks & IFIs. Efforts to computerize the IT system in accordance with Shariah tends to be developed inhouse in the initial stages, directly under the supervision of Shariah scholars and Islamic banking experts.
Alternatively, global vendors can build a competitive edge by getting their software endorsed by independent Islamic fi nance institutionsnamely Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI) and such. Islamic banking IT solutions can be resolved either by implementing a new system or installing only the relevant functional system or modules from existing core banking systems.
This system implementation is a pivotal transition which comes with some major risks. To date, a number of banks have gone through this transition since there is no complete ‘off the shelf’ product. It will not be an easy task to implement the system successfully without an excellent project management process, and without a team inclusive of technical experts, Shariah scholars and banking specialists, consultants and such.
The IT team especially cannot enjoy the liberty of implementing IT systems like in conventional banks. In IBS each and every matter has to go through a Shariah Supervisory Board (SSB) to obtain the necessary approvals. Furthermore, Islamic banking systems require more information disclosure. This transition or system implementation in an Islamic bank will easily consume a minimum of six months and above depending on the complexity of the implementation project.
Constant growth in the number of IFIs and Islamic banks require that IT systems are in place to compete with both new entrants and existing market players, whether conventional or Islamic. Advanced technology will reduce cost signifi cantly, as well as manual workload, inefficiencies, transaction processing time and so on while enhancing customer satisfaction with sophisticated facilities.
This Shariah compliant system involves an out-of-the-box implementation which disturbs the existing IT system by requiring various customizations to the traditional core banking solution. Sometimes this layer sits on top of this Islamic fi nance functional application layer or else integration will not support other applications.
Hence there may be a need for another middle ware. Flexibility, timing and affordability become a question mark at this point.
The acquisition of ready-made, plug and play modern components can be integrated smoothly either by interfacing directly to the corebanking software (or through an establishment of middle ware). Today, Information System Strategy is at the heart of the banking sector and it will determine the success of the business.
Core issues
Conventional core banking software have been developed based on interest which is fi xed and defi ned calculation methods. Once the formula is fi xed the interest rates will be credited into the relevant accounts as per the command. But in the case of IFIs and IBs, the profi t is unknown until the maturity date of the business
contract / investment made. In addition, the sharing of profi t can be vary according to Mudarib — Rab al Mal sharing percentages, types of accounts, tenor period, risk ratios, utilization percentages and profit equalization ratios. This may vary in different jurisdictions and between banks too.
Since profit distribution is one of the main differences between Islamic banks and conventional banks, profi t distribution methodology should be thoroughly tested from Shariah to Accounting. IFIs require much matured profi t distribution system, despite the increase in the number of global core banking system vendors incorporating the Islamic banking support to their product offerings.
From a technical point of view, Islamic banking IT solutions and software must be fl exible, user friendly, accessible, scalable, compatible (able to run in different platforms and operating systems), highly secure with preventive features and have automated implementation with modern and reliable database technology. With the latest developments in technology, Islamic banking software should be able to swiftly migrate or adapt to the advanced technology as and when necessary while constantly taking into consideration global best practices and processes. The system can be developed and installed as a browser platform / web based system or MS platform / desktop platform with advance programming languages. Even now the interest has been shifting to open source system for implementation.
Many software systems for the banks were developed with heavy development costs, after a number of years of research and development with equal amounts of testing. The Islamic fi nance industry is seeing everyday a new IFI. New start-up institutions will find it difficult to afford this strategic investment at the initial stages in
order to build a robust IT platform with rich functionality.
On the other hand, the Islamic fi nance industry requires trained professionals with in-depth knowledge about Islamic fi nance and field expertise in this emerging sector in order to provide quality, uninterrupted service to clients. Another important area to focus on is IBS training to bank staff, as well as translating the Islamic banking concepts, workfl ows and consequences to the technical experts so that they can develop and strategically fi t a system to the IBs business strategy requirements. Finally, customization of conventional banking software have been overshadowed by the demand from IBs for IT platforms to develop their own competitive edge over others. Many software systems were developed for conventional banks. When Islamic banks request for a software system, conventional ones are generally customized to suit some of the IB’s needs. Many are either customized to suit the IB’s requirements, or come with worked solutions to expel in-built conventional parameters, including terminology and such.
Still, the Islamic finance industry is yet to see a fully fl edged standalone Islamic banking software solution with advanced technology and functionality.
Muath Mubarak
Coordinator, Financial Control & Strategic Planning
Barwa Bank, Qatar
Email: muath2015@gmail.com
This article was published by Red money in IFN on 12-May 2010
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