Draft:Alif Bank

Alif Bank (Tajik: Алиф Бонк; formerly Alif Capital or Alif Sarmoya) is a Tajik bank, headquartered in Dushanbe, Tajikistan. It was established as a financial technology company in 2014 and turned into a bank in 2020, undertaking Sharia-compliant financial activities.

History
Alif was started in Tajikistan on April 29, 2014, by Abdullo Kurbanov, Firdavs Mirzoev and Zuhursho Rahmatulloev, and named after the first letter of the Perso-Arabic script which was used in Central Asia until the late modern period. Alif initially operated as a microfinance company for individuals and SMEs, and later added offerings such as an online marketplace, digital wallet, and buy now pay later services.

In October 2019, Alif established a subsidiary in Uzbekistan called Alif Tech for point-of-sale financing.

In November 2019, Alif Capital Holdings raised funding from Khofiz Shakhidi, a Tajik businessman living in Monaco, as a result of which Shakhidi obtained a 25% stake in the company and became Chairman of the Board of directors.

In January 2020, Alif received a banking license from the National Bank of Tajikistan to carry out banking operations in national and foreign currencies. It commenced banking operations on January 3, 2020, under the license number 0000114 and with an authorized capital of SM 110,597,000.

In July 2020, Alif Bank partnered with Visa, before launching Alif Visa cards in Tajikistan in 2021.

In September 2021, Alif Capital Holdings was valued at over $100 million after raising $8 million in equity and $50 million in debt from UK-based Jefferson Capital Holdings, which was founded by Shakhidi.

In November 2022, Alif Bank appointed Gulanor Atobek as its new chairman.

In September 2023, Alif began operations in the United Arab Emirates with the launch of Alif Pay.

Alif Capital Holdings
Alif Capital Holdings Ltd (ACHL) is the parent company of Alif Bank and is based in the UK. The major shareholders of ACHL include Jefferson Capital Holdings as well as founders Abdullo Kurbanov, Firdavs Mirzoev and Zuhursho Rahmatulloev. Apart from Alif Bank, ACHL has two other wholly-owned subsidiaries — Alif Tech and Alif Moliya — both of which were acquired from Alif Bank in 2020.