Lasernet: Your Tool for Easy Islamic Banking Documentation

For banks and core banking software providers, the importance of Islamic banking services, along with the expanding numbers of Arabic-speaking clientele, present unique challenges when it comes to generating documents that comply with Sharia law. 

For example, incorporating Arabic and Latin characters and right-to-left page layouts, while maintaining aspects of corporate branding, can pose significant hurdles for companies that lack the tools and expertise to handle complex document formatting requirements.

Luckily, Formpipe offers a powerful solution that’s specifically designed to address these challenges. This article will outline Lasernet’s capabilities for automating a wide range of Arabic and multilingual documents for financial institutions and core banking software providers.

We’ll also highlight how its features improve communication and document management and ensure regulatory compliance in Middle East territories. Read on to learn more.

Demand for Islamic finance offerings is increasing

The global Islamic banking sector is expected to be worth $4 trillion by 2026, growing from $1.8 trillion in 2018 to $2.8 trillion in 2021. This rapid growth is fueled by several factors, including growing Muslim populations worldwide, and the increasing availability of Islamic Fintech offerings — including Takaful Insurance, Sukuk, and Sharia-compliant payment solutions.

Moreover, governments in many countries are changing regulations and developing strategies to promote Islamic banking, including legislators in the UK, Denmark, France, North America, and Nigeria.

This evolving landscape necessitates the creation of a growing number of documents, all of which must adhere to Sharia law. For example, within loan applications and terms and conditions, text, in many cases, has to be represented in Arabic (in accordance with the Quran) as well as the applicant’s local language.

Additionally, all documentation must avoid citing Interest charges (Riba), contracts must avoid uncertainty (Gharar), and speculation/gambling (Maysir) in its terms. Plus, all Islamic finance documents must provide complete transparency, as the providers may be audited by a Shariah Advisory Council (made up of a committee of Islamic scholars).

Therefore, to effectively serve this demographic, financial institutions and core banking platform vendors must be capable of creating compliant statements, finance agreements and other crucial documents to ensure exceptional customer service.

Challenges of traditional document creation for Islamic banking documentation

Traditional document creation processes, especially those that involve manual formatting, take time and can often fail to meet Sharia law compliance requirements. Here is a rundown of some of the main challenges:

Lack of right-to-left (RTL) language support: Optimising document layout and formatting for Arabic speakers reading right-to-left can be tricky, as many document generation programmes do not support Arabic languages. This can lead to font inconsistencies and a layout that appears unprofessional to bilingual readers.

Incompatible document templates: Standard document templates, such as tables containing fields for interest payments and charges, need to be removed or replaced with crucial Islamic banking elements. Often, companies will need to seek guidance from Islamic finance experts in putting standard documents together, resulting in extra time and resource costs.

Manual processes can be error-prone: Let’s suppose a company has taken the time to consult a Sharia law compliance expert. Updating their existing documents to adhere to the regulations may incur errors, and thus require extra checks if manual processes are involved. Failure to comply with the correct standards may result in penalties or damage to the company’s reputation.

These limitations highlight the importance of automating document generation in the Islamic finance sector. Banks and core banking platform providers need to ensure consistency and professionalism in all of their documentation.  They also need the tools to help admin teams save time and money in their customer communications. Subsequently, investing in automated tools helps instil trust and sustain growth in the industry.

Lasernet’s industry proven solution for Islamic banking document creation

Lasernet provides the ultimate solution for automating Islamic banking document creation and management. Here is a quick rundown of some of its main features along with details of how it is already empowering banks and core banking software vendors serving the Middle East:

Flexible template and document creation: Lasernet ensures your documents display Arabic correctly and in accordance with your style requirements by facilitating RTL text display and Arabic numeral conversion capabilities.

Lasernet will also facilitate mixed-language documents that effortlessly combine Arabic and Latin characters within a single document, form, or sentence — ensuring your communications are easy to understand. 

Built-in compliance features: Lasernet makes it easy to integrate Sharia compliance certification information into document footers, helping to add a layer of trust to your communications. It will also eliminate the interest rate column in your templates, helping to lower non-compliance risk.

Versatile document delivery: The platform can generate documents in various formats such as PDF, XML, HTML, Microsoft Word, and Excel — giving you maximum control over document distribution via email or front-end banking applications. Plus, it streamlines archiving and document retrieval through Web Server Core or a preferred Internet Banking solution.

Dynamic Data Mapping: Data mapping capabilities enable Lasernet users to drag and drop XML data elements from core banking systems to populate your pre-designed templates in Word, InDesign, etc. This ensures efficient and accurate document generation in Arabic or other complex languages with minimal customisation required.

Global character support: Beyond Arabic characters, Lasernet also supports multibyte characters in other languages, such as Cyrillic and Chinese, supporting financial providers in their international expansion strategies.

Showcasing Lasernet’s functionalities in two key Islamic banking scenarios

We go above and beyond to train our customers to use Lasernet’s tools for maximum efficiency. For example, this training video features Formpipe’s Marc Jenkins demonstrating two common Islamic banking scenarios where the platform’s capabilities truly shine.

Customer statement generation (in Arabic)

Step one: Data delivery

First, select the document template you wish to create or modify within Lasernet; in this case, a customer account statement. On the left side of the screen, you will see the XML data file sent to Lasernet from your core banking system. The right side of the screen will show a preview of the template where you can map the data. Templates can be created using any Windows-based software, or within Lasernet’s Developer Tool.

Step two: Dynamic data mapping

Lasernet will automatically format tables and line items within the template to match the corresponding XML data, helping you save time when creating multi-page documents.

Step three: Multi-character document assembly

Once data mapping is complete, Lasernet ensures information is displayed correctly within the preview template, including handling Arabic text and RTL formatting.

Here, you can customise the template to combine Latin and Arabic language within the same line or separate lines. Lasernet also facilitates conditional mapping of variable line items based on pattern recognition. This causes the tables to grow or shrink based on the number of line items sent.

Step four: Customisation and output

Once you are happy that your document is accurate, adjust the fonts as needed to match your branding, select an output format (this could be a PDF or Word doc), and save it to Lasernet’s server-based module.

Once this is complete, you can send the document to print, email, or an archiving system. Templates can also include a QR code or barcode for easy information retrieval.

Islamic finance loan document (in multibyte Arabic characters)

Step one: XML data delivery to Word

Select the XML data set from your core banking system and loan template Word document. The left side of the screen will show the XML data from your platform, and the right side will show the data and a list of variable data tags Lasernet will use to map the data within your Word template.

Step two: Compiling loan document information

Open the loan Word document template, and it will appear on the right side of the screen, with the XML data (plus tags) appearing on the left. At this point, it's important to note that any document, including terms and conditions, images, and marketing messages, can be incorporated into the build.

Step three: Assemble your multi-language document

Next, drag and drop the data into your template and modify the font and layout as you wish. Lasernet will also incorporate Arabic and Latin characters on the same line — making your information easy to understand for bilingual readers.

Step four: Check your preview and send it for publishing

Once you have mapped your data, including terms and conditions, single-line items, recurring transaction data etc., scroll to the bottom of the preview and check the Sharia certification number in the document footer. When you are happy with the paragraphs, tables, and mix of Arabic and Latin characters within your document, send it to print, email, or archiving system.

Lasernet empowers your document generation processes

Formpipe has a wealth of experience working with financial institutions and core banking software providers serving the Middle East.

Our solution makes it easy for you to keep up with changes to regulatory requirements and reduce non-compliance risks across all of your islamic banking services. Lasernet also automatically maintains a comprehensive audit trail of all activities, enhancing your security posture and risk management strategies.

Lasernet’s functionality is infinitely scalable and easily integrated with your existing infrastructure to ensure minimal disruption to operations and maximum document management efficiency.

To learn more about how Lasernet can empower your core banking software, get in touch for a free demo.