Exploring the roles of fintech-good governance practice in islamic social finance institutions : a case study of direct-aid society in Kuwait

Abstract

The thesis explores impact of using the FinTech tools of crowdfunding and digital payment on the practice of good governance at Islamic social finance institutions in order to improve the adoption of good governance and ultimately enhance stakeholders’ protection. The study is qualitative in nature, employing singular case study research on Direct Aid Society which is a leading institution in the Gulf and Middle East region. It is the first institution in the field of social finance that adopts good governance system in The State of Kuwait. The researcher applies multiple methods of data collection including library research, official document analysis, and interviews with 10 respondents comprising governance and FinTech leaders as well as regulators and an external governance expert. The in-depth face-to-face interviews furnished valuable data that was then generated, rearranged, and refined using the NVIVO 14 software. It was found that the application of good governance and the use of the FinTech tools of crowdfunding and digital payment enhances institutional performance and increases stakeholders’ protection at Islamic social finance institutions. In addition, the issues and challenges that accompany the application of good governance at Islamic social finance institutions such as lack of transparency, trust, disclosure, and accountability can be addressed using the FinTech tools of crowdfunding and digital payment. Therefore, there is a positive impact of using the two selected FinTech tools on the application of good governance standards at Islamic social finance institutions in terms of enhancing the second and third governance standards namely financial stability as well as transparency, disclosure, and accountability. This is achieved by using the FinTech tools of crowdfunding and digital payment, which enhances the application of good governance in the context of this study.