Five years ago, we began a bold journey to build Australia’s first Islamic bank — a bank that operates without interest (riba) and provides Australian Muslims with genuinely Shariah-compliant financial services. Since then, the journey has been filled with hard work, challenges, determination, and hope. As CEO of Islamic Money Australia, I regularly hear from members of the community asking how things are progressing, and I want to share an honest update about where we stand today.
We are still working towards launching Australia’s first Islamic bank within the next 12–24 months, with a likely launch in 2027. From the beginning, we knew this would not be easy. Building a bank from scratch in Australia is a massive undertaking that requires significant capital, technology, infrastructure, and regulatory approvals. Early on, we estimated that we would need approximately $60 million in capital — around $20 million to build the technology and operational systems, and another $40 million or more to launch and grow the business. Banks are also required to hold substantial capital against every home finance and business facility they provide, making strong financial backing essential.
The good news is that we successfully raised the initial $20 million and used it to build the foundations of the bank. Over the past few years, our team has worked tirelessly to create the systems and infrastructure required to operate a modern Islamic financial institution. Today, we have our own Visa cards, our own BSB, our own SWIFT code, and a brand-new mobile banking app. These are no longer ideas on paper — they are real systems built by people who genuinely believe in this mission and understand the importance of providing ethical, Shariah-compliant banking solutions to the community.
We have also achieved a major milestone by launching our first Shariah-compliant home finance product, helping real Australian Muslim families access home ownership without compromising their values. Seeing our first customer settle their Islamic home finance was an incredibly proud moment for our team and a reminder that this vision is becoming reality step by step. Alongside this, we have launched our mobile apps and continue beta testing a number of products and systems to ensure we deliver services that are reliable, secure, and worthy of the community’s trust.
Like any ambitious project, this journey has also come with setbacks. Although we successfully built the banking infrastructure, we were disappointed that a major investor did not come forward earlier to provide the additional capital required for a full banking launch. As a result, we had to hand back our banking licence application, which slowed our progress significantly. Despite these challenges, we have never given up, and neither has the dedicated team behind this vision.
We have now launched a new capital raising round of up to $100 million as we move into the next stage of growth. We are currently engaging with sophisticated investors both in Australia and internationally, and we remain optimistic about the future. We strongly believe that the demand for Islamic banking in Australia is real, growing, and long overdue. Islam is one of Australia’s fastest-growing religions, yet Australia still does not have a fully-fledged Islamic bank. Once our capital raising is complete, we expect to re-enter the banking licence process, which we anticipate could take approximately 12–15 months.
Most importantly, we want the community to know this: we have not given up. Building Australia’s first Islamic bank was never going to happen overnight, but we are still here, still working hard every day, and still fully committed to making this vision a reality. We are deeply grateful to everyone who has supported us, believed in us, and continued this journey with us. Your encouragement and trust continue to inspire us to keep moving forward.