Eleven regions, one comparison: how banks are supervised, how money moves and where Islamic finance is growing. Then make any region yours, or pick your country at the top of the page, and the whole website follows it.
Islamic finance at scale, national instant rails and regulators that move fast
Egypt's scale, Jordan's shared rails and Morocco's bridge to Africa
Where global banking rules are written: a banking union, a single rulebook and instant euro payments by law
London's rulebook, Swiss and Norwegian rails, Türkiye's scale and Ukraine's resilience
Deep markets, many banks and payment rails modernising across three economies
Brazil's Pix, Colombia's Bre-B and open finance set by rule
South Africa's instant rails, Kenya's mobile money, West Africa's shared central bank
India's public rails, Pakistan's Islamic shift and Bangladesh's mobile money
Kaspi's super app, Astana's financial centre and new Islamic windows
Scale, speed and public rails: five markets setting the pace of digital banking
Trans-Tasman banking: real-time rails, data rights and firm conduct rules
No single region: the original MTWAFIQ look, and international standards where a page needs a rulebook.
217 countries and territories: the central bank and supervisors, AML and FATF status, data protection, deposit insurance and Islamic finance, with the official sources.
Scroll the table sideways. Each cell is a summary; the detail is on the region’s page.
| GCC | MENA | Europe | UK & wider Europe | North America | Latin America & Caribbean | Sub-Saharan Africa | South Asia | Central Asia & Caucasus | East & Southeast Asia | Australia & NZ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Currency | SAR, AED, BHD, QAR, OMR pegged to USD; KWD to a basket | EGP flexible since 2024; JOD pegged to USD; MAD to a euro–dollar basket | Euro (EUR) in 21 states; six keep national currencies | GBP, CHF, NOK and TRY float; UAH under managed flexibility | US dollar · Canadian dollar · Mexican peso | BRL, COP and CLP float; PEN managed, with wide dollar use; ARS in a band since 2025 | ZAR, NGN, KES and GHS float; XOF and XAF are pegged to the euro | INR, PKR, BDT and LKR float with central-bank management; NPR pegged to INR | KZT, UZS, GEL and KGS floating; AZN held near 1.70 per US dollar | CNY · MYR · SGD · HKD · IDR | Australian dollar (AUD) · New Zealand dollar (NZD) |
| Central bank | Six central banks (SAMA, CBUAE, CBB, CBK, QCB, CBO), each a bank supervisor | CBE (Egypt), CBJ (Jordan), Bank Al-Maghrib; FRA for Egypt's non-banks | ECB and Eurosystem (Bundesbank, Banque de France and other national central banks) | Bank of England · SNB · Norges Bank · CBRT · NBU | Federal Reserve · Bank of Canada · Banco de México | BCB (Brazil), Banco de la República (Colombia), Banco Central de Chile, BCRP (Peru), BCRA (Argentina) | SARB (with its Prudential Authority), CBN, CBK, Bank of Ghana, BCEAO; BEAC for CEMAC | RBI (India), SBP (Pakistan), Bangladesh Bank, CBSL (Sri Lanka), NRB (Nepal) | NBK with ARDFM and AFSA (Kazakhstan), CBU, CBAR, NBG, NBKR | PBOC · BNM · MAS · HKMA · BI | RBA (Australia) · RBNZ, Te Pūtea Matua (New Zealand) |
| Instant payments | sarie, Aani, Fawri+, Fawran, WAMD; AFAQ for GCC cross-border | InstaPay (Egypt, 2022), CliQ (Jordan, 2020), instant transfers (Morocco, 2023) | SEPA Instant (mandatory 2025) · TIPS · Wero | Faster Payments (2008) · SIC instant (2024) · NICS Real · FAST (2021) · SEP instant (2024) | FedNow and RTP (US) · SPEI (Mexico) · Real-Time Rail (Canada, 2026) | Pix (Brazil, 2020), Bre-B (Colombia, 2025), TEF (Chile, 2008), CCE (Peru), Transferencias 3.0 (Argentina, 2021) | PayShap (2023), NIP (2011), PesaLink and M-PESA, GhIPSS Instant Pay, PI-SPI; PAPSS across borders | UPI (India), Raast (Pakistan), NPSB (Bangladesh), CEFTS (Sri Lanka), connectIPS | NBK Instant Payment System and QR (Kazakhstan), CBAR IPS (Azerbaijan); Georgia's due 2026 | IBPS · DuitNow · FAST/PayNow · FPS · BI-FAST/QRIS | NPP with PayID and PayTo (AU, 2018) · NZ real-time rail in planning |
| Open banking | Bahrain early (2018); UAE open finance live; Saudi licensing from 2026 | Jordan open finance instructions (2022); early stage in Egypt and Morocco | PSD2 · PSD3/PSR awaiting adoption · FiDA under negotiation | UK CMA order (2018) · Swiss market-led · PSD2 via the EEA · GEÇİT (Türkiye) · NBU rules (2025) | US rule being rewritten · Canada under Bank of Canada · Mexico pending | Mandatory in Brazil (2020) and Colombia (2026); Chile from July 2027; pending in Argentina and Peru | Nigeria CBN rules (2021, 2023), launch delayed; not yet in force elsewhere | India's Account Aggregators (2021); sandbox tests in Pakistan; early elsewhere | Mandatory APIs in Georgia; Open API platform in Kazakhstan (2024); CBAR roadmap | None mandated (CN, SG) · draft (MY) · Open API (HK) · SNAP standard (ID) | Consumer Data Right (AU, 2020) · Customer and Product Data Act (NZ, 2025) |
| Deposit protection | SAR 200k (SA), 20k BHD/OMR; Kuwait guarantee; UAE, Qatar none explicit | JOD 50,000 (Jordan, plus Islamic fund); Morocco guarantee funds; Egypt none | EUR 100,000 per depositor per bank, EU-wide | £120,000 · CHF 100,000 · NOK 2 million · TRY 1.2 million · full cover in Ukraine under martial law | FDIC US$250k · CDIC C$100k per category · IPAB 400k UDIs (2026) | R$250,000 (Brazil), COP 50m (Colombia), S/123,000 (Peru), ARS 25m (Argentina); State guarantee (Chile) | R100,000 (South Africa); NGN 5 million (Nigeria); KES 500,000 (Kenya); GDPC; FGDR-UMOA | ₹5 lakh (India), PKR 1m, Tk 200,000, LKR 1.1m, NPR 500,000 | KZT 20 million (savings, Kazakhstan); AZN 100,000; KGS 1 million; Uzbekistan moving to a cap | RMB 500k · RM250k · S$100k · HK$800k · IDR 2bn | A$250,000 per ADI (FCS) · NZ$100,000 per deposit taker (DCS, 2025) |
| Digital banks | STC Bank, D360, Vision Bank (SA); Wio, Zand (UAE); new QCB, CBO frameworks | onebank (2025) and yomo (preliminary, 2026) in Egypt; Reflect by Arab Bank | Full licences (N26, bunq, Trade Republic, Revolut, BoursoBank) | Full licences (UK, Norway) · Swiss FinTech licence · Turkish digital-bank licence (2022) | Full charters; fintech approvals in US and Mexico; faster path in Canada | No separate licence; Nubank, Inter, C6 Bank, Lulo Bank, Nu Colombia, Brubank | TymeBank, Discovery Bank (South Africa); Moniepoint, Kuda (Nigeria); mobile money everywhere | Mashreq and Raqami (Pakistan); payments and small finance banks in India | Pave Bank Georgia (restricted licence, 2023); super apps and app-first banks elsewhere | Internet banks (CN) · 5 (MY) · 4 (SG) · 8 virtual (HK) · digital banks under OJK rules (ID) | APRA licence: Judo, Alex, Revolut (2026) · NZ: few new entrants |
| Islamic finance | Over half of global assets; 75% of Saudi banking assets (IFSB) | About 19% of Jordan's, 5% of Egypt's, 2% of Morocco's bank assets (IFSB) | KT Bank (Germany); Saxony-Anhalt and Luxembourg sukuk | About 8% of Türkiye's and 0.1% of UK bank assets (IFSB); UK sovereign sukuk | Niche home finance in US and Canada; none identified in Mexico | No Islamic bank or window identified in the five markets (2026) | About 1.3% of bank assets in Nigeria and Kenya, 0.1% in South Africa (IFSB); sukuk in WAEMU | 29.2% of Pakistan's deposits (2026); 22.5% of Bangladesh's assets (2024) | Uzbekistan law (2026); Kazakhstan windows (2026), under 0.5% of assets; Kyrgyz Islamic bank | Malaysia 48% of financing (2025); Indonesia dual system, about 7% of bank assets; HK and SG sukuk; none in CN banks | Non-bank providers and NAB business finance; no Islamic bank yet (2026) |
| Financial centres | King Abdullah Financial District, DIFC, ADGM, Manama, Doha, Kuwait City | Cairo, Alexandria, Amman, Casablanca (Casablanca Finance City), Rabat | Frankfurt · Paris · Amsterdam · Luxembourg · Dublin · Milan | London · Zurich · Geneva · Oslo · Istanbul · Kyiv | New York · Toronto · Mexico City · Chicago | São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Brasília, Bogotá, Medellín, Santiago, Lima, Buenos Aires | Johannesburg, Cape Town, Lagos, Abuja, Nairobi, Accra, Abidjan, Dakar | Mumbai, GIFT City, Karachi, Dhaka, Colombo, Kathmandu | Almaty, Astana (AIFC), Tashkent, Baku, Tbilisi, Bishkek | Shanghai · Kuala Lumpur · Singapore · Hong Kong · Jakarta | Sydney · Melbourne · Auckland · Wellington |
Interest-based banking is the norm in most of the world, and these pages explain it as it works. Beside it, Islamic finance follows a different logic: every financing is tied to a real asset or trade, the price is agreed at the start, and profit comes with shared risk. It is worth knowing why that serves everyone.
A clear price agreed at the start, financing tied to something real, and no compounding charges when life gets hard. Late-payment charges go to charity.
Asset-backed and partnership contracts keep the financier close to the client’s real business, widen the customer base, and open funding from sukuk and from savers who avoid interest.
Returns linked to real assets and disclosed risks, with ethical screening that keeps money away from harmful activities.
Credit grows with real trade and investment rather than ahead of it; debt is not traded on debt; sukuk fund infrastructure; and households that avoid interest join the formal financial system.
In each region: GCCMENAEuropeUK & wider EuropeNorth AmericaLatin America & CaribbeanSub-Saharan AfricaSouth AsiaCentral Asia & CaucasusEast & Southeast AsiaAustralia & NZ
Decide as bankers in each region decide. Every answer is explained, and it counts on the open leaderboard.
Facts checked in October 2026. Banking rules change often, so check the official source before you rely on a detail. Bank and company names show the market; they do not imply any relationship with MTWAFIQ.
