Algbra, a sustainable and values-focused digital finance provider, has launched and underlined its commitment to bringing an end to community and ethnicity-based financial inequality.
Founded by Chief Executive, Zeiad Idris, and Chief Operating Officer, Fizel Nejabat, the firm’s mission is to educate, engage and empower overlooked minority communities and facilitate their ability to take control of their finances. Algbra has raised £3.75 million in fundraising and is backed by SFC Capital, British Business Investments and New World Group.
Idris commented: “We are the first Fintech to take a fully values-based approach to serving communities with a truly systemic approach to financial inclusion. Moreover, we are committed to engaging, educating and empowering minorities to close the wealth and social gaps that exist. There are 1.3 billion addressable people on the planet who remain unbanked. If we want to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic to a better version of our world, we cannot do that without ensuring that everyone can participate in today’s financial system and therefore be included in modern society.”
Combining grassroots community understanding with global expertise, Algbra will serve the world’s growing communities that wish to bank in accordance with their values and faith, including a global market of 2 billion Muslims (of which 800 million are unbanked), to actively facilitate social mobility and enhance financial inclusion globally. Algbra will launch a core set of financial products, including current accounts, foreign exchange, remittances and rewards, with lending products to follow shortly thereafter.
Nejabat added: “Society, including minority communities, are increasingly opting for financial services that accord with their values and beliefs. The climate strike and Black Lives Matter protests have highlighted the need for financial services to offer minority communities a lever of power within their financial lives. Therefore, it is essential that our industry responds in a more systematic fashion, building organisations and delivering financial products that shift corporate shareholder primacy to stakeholder priority to address the deep inequalities that exist and offer solutions that are suitable for all.”
