Fingular & TESS Payments to Unveil Islamic Digital Lending Brand; Veteran Executives Joins Board

Fingular, a Singapore-based global financial group, renowned for its disruptive role in accelerating financial inclusion and fintech innovation, and TESS Payments, one of the key fintech players in Qatar, are thrilled to unveil the Brand for their joint global Shariah neo-lending project in Qatar and beyond at the Dubai Fintech Summit, the world’s prominent Fintech event, taking place from 12th to 13th May. This landmark collaboration continues the lightning fast developing story of Fingular and TESS and reaffirms their unwavering commitment to the mission of revolutionizing digital lending in Qatar and the entire Muslim world, guiding it towards prosperity and innovation for everyone.

According to the World Bank, over 1 billion Muslims globally remains financially underserved and 12 of 15 the most unbanked countries are Muslim-majority. Meanwhile, the population of Islamic countries will grow twice as fast as in the whole world and will exceed 3 Bn people by 2060.

Last September, Fingular made waves by announcing its plans to launch in Qatar by investing in TESS Payments LLC, a leading fintech company registered in Qatar Financial Centre. This strategic partnership, facilitated by Qatar Development Bank through Qatar FinTech Hub, underscores Qatar’s growing influence as a hub for financial innovation and aims to establish the country’s leading customer-focused digital lending platform, delivering one of the Middle East’s most versatile and inclusive lending ecosystems.The parties intend to exceed $600 million in lending issued to Qatari residents within three years, providing financing to approximately 1.4 million people in minutes entirely online.

This February, two milestones took place at once. Partners’ growing efforts in digital finance were recognized by Qatar Development Bank in the recent edition of its annual Qatar Venture Investment Report 2024. TESS Payments was featured as a key fintech player in Qatar, while Fingular recognized as a prominent investor in Qatar-based startups. Indeed, this kind of collaboration strengthens the entire fintech ecosystem. Right after that, the partners announced a landmark collaboration with one of Qatar’s largest Islamic banks, Al Rayan Bank, which supported the partners in their disruptive efforts.

Just two month later, the partners are now announcing a further strategic their newly formed joint venture, headquartered in Doha and soon to launch in the Qatari market, is set to become the first global Sharia credit-led platform, aims to solve this global problem digitally, leveraging cutting-edge technologies.

As disclosed recently, Former Executive of Qatar Development Bank, Mr. Georges Fouad Salem to join the Board of Directors of this global initiative, next to H.E. Sheikh Hamad Bin Jabor J.J. Al Thani as a Chairman and Mr. Maxim Chernuschenko, CEO of Fingular as Vice Chairman. Mr. Salem is a renowned Business Advisor and FinTech Influencer with extensive experience in Management Consulting, recognized across the Middle East. He made an invaluable contribution to the development of the FinTech ecosystem in Qatar after 22 years of extensive experience in the field of Startups and SMEs development.

Maxim Chernuschenko, CEO of Fingular, said: “We are pleased to announce this significant milestone in our development. The challenge of financial injustice is acute, especially in the Muslim world, opening up a huge room for improving the quality of life of people, which we can offer through our digital technologies and unique competencies in financially underserved markets, tested and proven by Fingular in different geographies.”

“We are confident that this milestone aligns perfectly with our vision to lead the way in digital financial innovation globally while supporting Qatar’s growth as a financial hub and will certainly enable us to provide unparalleled value to our clients. We are pleased to welcome Georges as a new Board Member” – added Vadim Gurinov, a Cypriot investor and strategic backer of Fingular.

Georges Fouad Salem, Board Member, said: “Fighting injustice has always been a passion of mine. I am excited to join this initiative as a Board Member and contribute in setting-up the Strategic Plan for Fingular and TESS to develop the next Global Neo-banking Platform with a strong focus on financial inclusion, catering to the needs of underserved retail clients in the emerging markets around the Globe.”