The First Islamic Bank to Use Blockchain Technology

Emirates Islamic will become the first Islamic bank in the UAE to integrate Blockchain technology into its cheques.

The decision was announced to be an effective banking transactions security improvement and fraud prevention measure. According to a report, Emirates Islamic will issue new cheque books, termed ‘Cheque Chain’, carrying a unique QR-code on every leaf, along with a string of 20 random characters. The bank plans to have each cheque leaf registered on the Bank’s blockchain platform, enabling it to validate the authenticity of the cheque at the source. 

Suhail Bin Tarraf, Chief Operating Officer at Emirates Islamic, said: 

“We anticipate that Cheque Chain will dramatically reduce cheque frauds in this market helping us provide our customers greater peace of mind and security.” 

Now, Dubai’s government is actively backing initiatives targeting implementation of blockchain technology in banking. Suhail Bin Tarraf also noted that the initiative to introduce Blockchain technology into the cheques of Emirates Islamic bank is “commitment to support the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of UAE and Ruler of Dubai in making Dubai the global capital of Islamic economy”. 

Blockchain tech adoption in UAE 

While lots of Blockchain and cryptocurrency experts believe in the prospect of massive adoption of Blockchain technology in Dubai andUAE, there are still a lot of challenges ahead. The government might support the initiative, however, support itself isn’t enough to implement it.
Samer Mahfouz, Market data analyst, and expert in Blockchain development tools and technology at Thomson Reuters, commented to Coinidol: 

“Dubai government and Banks will have running Blockchain applications by 2020. Main workflows that can benefit from the Blockchain technology will be migrated. This doesn’t mean that all government services and Banks will be using Blockchain by 2020. As you know, Blockchain is good for some applications not for all. Blockchain applications that require adoption by all parties will take longer to implement. There will be errors, there will be failing projects. It is normal. We will learn from them and improve. It will encourage others to follow the lead and at least start replicating the successful projects.”