Jumah Pay seeks UK rollout to help mosques and charities manage COVID-19

London. — UK-based payment platform Jumah Pay, which enables Muslims to pay their zakat and sadaqah via their mobile phone, plans to roll out across the UK on April 6. Jumah Pay aims to help mosques and charities with shortfalls by providing cash.

The national launch coincides with the COVID-19 pandemic across the UK and with less than a month to go before Ramadan.

“We are aiming to help mosques cover their costs during the COVID-19 period,” Siddique Esmail, Jumah Pay European CEO and co-founder, told Salaam Gateway. “Masjids have staff and running costs”.

According to Salaam Gateway, on Jumah Pay a charity can register within 48 hours. It enables them to get the message out quicker and start receiving donations.

The app enables users to donate to charity through the mobile phone using QR-Code technology. It also contains a built-in Gift Aid application programme interface (API).

“We created an app with GPS, E-wallet and much more which allows you [the user] to save your favourite and historical logs, said Esmail. “It helps work out your tax and works out the tax rate.”

He said the transaction is safe and secure, since the software meets all the banks’ protocol as well as Apple’s and Google’s requirements.

Jumah Pay is open to all charities, whether Islamic or non-Islamic, that are registered and approved by the Charity Commission UK and have a charity number.

Established in 2017, Jumah Pay relaunched and went fully live in March 2018 with an updated database. The start-up has a modest team with three people based in Southampton in the UK.

Jumah Pay is talking to 40 Islamic institutions and organisations across different continents. Looking to the future, it aims to provide its application for use in different countries on a lease basis by working with governments, telecoms, and financial institutions.

In addition to international aspirations, Esmail said they are also looking at different forms of payment, such as cryptocurrency.

“We may consider accepting Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as payment,” he said. “[However] we are not in a position to accept it at the moment, but this is a possibility to be considered.”