Offa partners with finova to provide Sharia-compliant products

Offa the Sharia-compliant bridging finance provider, has partnered with cloud-based mortgage and savings provider finova to develop a digital platform to support its growing portfolio of products.

Offa’s origination platform will be delivered by finova and its implementation partner Hexaware in the first half of 2024.

The project was part of a £1m investment by Offa into its IT systems.

Offa will leverage finova’s customisable Apprivo software, giving it access to multiple data points, including ID verification, credit reference agencies and automated valuation models.

Additional services can also be integrated via finova’s API ecosystem, including conveyancing, valuations, and payment processing and those services specific to Offa and Sharia compliancy.

Sagheer Malik (pictured), chief commercial officer at Offa, said: “Speed is especially important in the real estate market segments we target.

“We know from past experience a key issue for customers and intermediaries seeking Islamic finance is the slow, cumbersome and complicated application processes involved.

“Offa is making a significant investment into the digital technologies that underpin our business, and in finova we have a trusted and highly experienced technology partner, whose Apprivo software will transform our service by streamlining our processes to create a faster, smarter and easier system for all.”

Offa was launched in 2019 as an ethical alternative to conventional bridging.

The Birmingham headquartered company offers short-term property finance in line with Islamic finance principles.

Products are not based on interest, and do not finance prohibited activities that are regarded as damaging to society, such as alcohol, gambling and the arms trade.

Islamic finance applications have a reputation for taking longer than they should, an issue addressed in the platform built for Offa by finova.

Chris Little, chief revenue officer at finova, said: “Clients have become accustomed to a seamless digital experience across every aspect of their lives, including their finances.

“As a fully open API, Apprivo has many applications for the Islamic Finance market and will support Offa’s digital processes with ease.

“Moving forward, we’re excited to activate the next stages of delivery and play a part in Offa’s growth journey as it rapidly expands its portfolio of products.

“Our partnership with Offa also marks an important milestone for finova as the first project here we collaborated with Hexaware, our new implementation partner.

“Hexaware has played a critical role in the delivery of this platform, with oversight from the finova team, and we look forward to building on this new strategic partnership that is already off to a strong start with Offa.”