Sharia Fintech, Maqashid Sharia, and Financial Inclusion: A Normative-Juridical Analysis of Consumer-Protection Regulation in Indonesia

Abstract

Sharia fintech is increasingly positioned as an instrument for extending financial inclusion to Indonesia's large unbanked population, yet its capacity to serve this developmental role depends on a regulatory architecture that accommodates digital innovation while remaining consistent with Sharia objectives. Prior studies have examined sharia fintech and its underlying contracts (akad) largely in general or descriptive terms, leaving the linkage between Indonesia's consumer-protection framework, the maqashid sharia objective of preserving wealth (hifz al-mal), and the national financial-inclusion agenda comparatively underexplored. This study examines how existing Indonesian regulations position sharia fintech at the intersection of maqashid sharia and inclusive, sustainable financial development. A qualitative normative-juridical (library research) method was applied to primary legal sources, covering Fatwa DSN-MUI No. 117/DSN-MUI/II/2018 and the successive statutory instruments governing the sector from POJK No. 77/POJK.01/2016 through POJK No. 40/2024, alongside secondary academic literature, using descriptive-qualitative content analysis. The results show that the regulatory architecture provides pre-contractual protection (consumer education, product transparency, fraud prevention, and data protection) and post-contractual protection (payment-delay handling, default remedies, dispute resolution, and oversight of collection conduct); that these provisions substantively correspond to hifz al-mal; and that they build the institutional trust needed to extend Sharia-compliant financing to unbanked populations. Structural constraints, including capital-entry thresholds, uneven internet infrastructure, and dual-identity data problems, continue to limit outreach. The study concludes that sharia fintech in Indonesia rests on a maqashid-consistent legal foundation that has strengthened considerably since 2022, while regulatory refinement specific to sharia fintech remains necessary to fully realize its contribution to financial inclusion.