Tabadulat’s Islamic investing roadmap: Banks first, retail next

Tabadulat is taking a dual-track approach for its Islamic digital investing solution – first partnering with banks to deliver new revenue streams and gaining some credibility, even while running a direct-to-retail platform where retail investors can access Shariah compliant securities.

This Abu Dhabi Global Market-based fintech is taking this pragmatic route as the broader aim is to attract a big enough customer base right from the get-go to power its global ambition, Founder Samy Mohamad told IFN Investor.

“Realistically, in the early stages, two or three B2B contracts with Islamic banks would be a massive boost. It would let us hire more talent, develop more products, reinvest in our direct-to-consumer platform and grow customer acquisition.”

The initial phase of Tabadulat’s platform is to allow remote trading and investing securities in various global exchanges, which was developed from scratch to incorporate Shariah compliance at every transaction level, explained Samy.

“While global stockbroking is our foundation, our long-term vision is to build a multi-asset, comprehensive wealth management platform. We want to end the reliance on asset managers and wealth managers. People are financially literate enough to make their own investment decisions.”

This approach, implemented since Tabadulat officially began operating in January 2025, treads a more difficult path when compared to other fintechs – which leverage off third party solutions. But it is paying off as Tabadulat can ‘rebrand’ its platform for banks to expand services to its clients.

Beyond this strategy being a faster way to grow a customer base, Tabadulat can also optimize earnings and pass on savings. An example would be to offer ‘zero-fee’ trading on selected US exchanges that provide volume rebates, which can then be enjoyed by its clients.

With its in-house platform development, Samy said the Tabadulat platform can already offer direct access to exchanges in 20 countries worldwide across four continents – including the GCC region – and can plug in more over time.

The main challenge isn’t in adding trading platforms, but in getting jurisdictional approvals for customers. In markets where it doesn’t make sense to enter directly, the firms will approach through incumbent local Islamic banks – which already have a large customer base.

“Direct entry doesn’t work in lower-cost economies. For example, we have no intention of going directly into India, Sri Lanka or Pakistan, which have strict capital controls. In those markets, the only feasible entry is through local incumbents. But our mission remains the same: to give Muslims the ability to invest in a Shariah compliant way.”

Though the platform’s focus is on retail investors, Samy said: “We’ve already had institutions approach us for a solution like ours. For them, we’d build a comprehensive web-based dashboard, because no institution wants to trade on a phone. They’ll need the same excellence we’re building for retail, but on a larger scale.”

Services will include managing money across markets, holding currency exposures and monitoring Shariah compliance properly including purification ratios and Zakat payments. Tabadulat is already preparing to partner with its first institutional asset manager in Bahrain.