At Pfida, we believe that the key to providing equitable, ethical, and fair financial solutions lies in the strength and diversity of our team. Each individual at Pfida plays a vital role in shaping our journey from a growing scale-up to an impactful fintech leader. Creating an inclusive environment for our employees is as much a priority as it is for the communities we serve.

We’re excited to share our 2023 Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Report, a reflection of the culture we’ve built, the progress we’ve made, and our commitment to continuous improvement.

Highlights from our 2023 DEI Report:

• 100% employee retention throughout 2023, which we’re incredibly proud of. This shows that our efforts to foster a supportive, inclusive work environment are paying off.
  
• 80%+ satisfaction in our annual staff survey – a clear sign that our team is happy, engaged, and thriving.
  
• We’ve grown significantly since 2022, expanding from our founding team of 3 to over 50 talented individuals.
  
• Pfida’s gender balance is split nearly 50:50, a rarity in the fintech industry and a milestone we’re proud to have achieved.

At Pfida, we’re dedicated to nurturing talent from all backgrounds. Our learning and development initiatives are designed to give everyone the opportunity to grow their skills and expertise. Fairness and opportunity are at the core of our ethos, and we believe that everyone deserves the chance to succeed, both in their careers and through the products we offer.

As we continue to grow, our focus remains on evolving as a company that champions diversity, equity, and inclusion for all. We’re incredibly proud of what we’ve achieved so far, but this is just the beginning. There’s always room to do more, and we’re committed to pushing ourselves further in creating a workplace where everyone feels valued and heard.

We invite you to read our full 2023 DEI Report, where we delve deeper into our accomplishments, our future goals, and how we plan to keep making Pfida a place where everyone can thrive.

? You can access the full report below:

In January 2024, we successfully completed on the purchase of our 100th Pfida home.

To celebrate this monumental milestone, Raza and some of the team visited our 100th homeowner, Dimitri and his family, to personally hand the keys to his new house. His young children were delighted to be the first to open the door to their new home.

Back in the office, we celebrated with the Pfida team, as our CEO Raza Ullah gave a heartfelt speech reflecting on the origins of how Pfida came from a team of 3 to now a team of almost 50, and serving over 100 homeowners to date. This moment is a testament to our talented and dedicated team members who all contributed to make this dream a reality.

1

/

To mark the big milestone, Raza Ullah, Pfida’s CEO, personally presented the keys to Dimitri and his family, our 100th homeowner – the Pfida way! Back at the office we celebrated with new merch, balloons, and cake!

Source: Pfida

We started this journey with a vision to help people purchase their homes interest-free and without the burden of debt, to offer truly ethical, accessible financial alternatives to all. Fast forward to today, we have financed our 100th Pfida home, and helped hundreds of people grow their savings with our halal investment accounts.

We have a big year ahead of us – with more homes in the pipeline. Keep in the loop with new products, business updates, and all things Pfida by registering today and signing up to our mailing list.

We’re proud to announce we are now a part of the Venture Studio from Crisis’ investment portfolio of companies working to end homelessness through our ethical, debt-free homeownership scheme.

What is the Venture Studio from Crisis?

Crisis is the UK’s national charity for people experiencing homelessness. In 2020, Crisis launched Venture Studio to support and invest in companies creating solutions to accelerate the end of homelessness. They look for innovative tech-enabled housing focused solutions as a way to end homelessness or prevent it from happening in the first place. As part of their work, they also facilitate and share expertise with start-ups across the country.

The team has recently launched a £20m philanthropic venture fund in order to invest in over 70 starts-ups over 10 years in a bid to end homelessness faster.

How Pfida (formerly Primary Finance) are helping to end homelessness

With the cost-of-living crisis, unprecedented hikes in the private rental sector, and soaring interest rates on mortgages, an increasing number of people are facing homelessness.

Here’s what our CEO, Raza Ullah, had to say:

Our home financing product offers people an affordable, debt-free solution to owning their own home. Our business model enables customers an average of four years of housing stability if they financially fall on hard times, with our recommended initial equity amount, compared to up to six months payment holiday with a standard mortgage lender. The recommended deposit amount is equal to a 20%* equity share of the property that customers can trade with us to cover their rent in the event of financial hardship.

You can find out more about our Home Provision Scheme by visiting our website:

Liz Choonara, Director of Commerce & Enterprise at Crisis, said:

“Pfida offers a tech-driven, innovative solution which will help to prevent homelessness. Their ambition to onboard their first customers with 0% deposit by 2025 as well as their equity buffer promise immense social impact. The combination of their expertise and tech with Crisis’ in-depth knowledge and understanding of the multiple root causes of homelessness, will create a strong partnership and we are excited about what we can achieve together. “

You can find out more information on the venture Studio from Crisis here. If you’re interested in donating to the £20m fund, you can email venture.studio@crisis.org.uk.

For any press or media enquires, please email us at marketing@pfida.com

*We do accept 15% and as low as 10% on a case-by-case basis, and we hope to push these down further over time.

Pfida.

(noun) \ faɪ-dah \

Previously known as Primary Finance, Pfida is an ethical fin-tech on a mission to provide everyone with equal and fair opportunities to save, invest and ultimately own a home without interest and debt.

Our goal is to create an ethical and fair world by providing finance products and services that benefit everyone, whilst eradicating debt.

What does Pfida do?

We provide homebuyers with a route to full home ownership, through a model that is affordable, fair and flexible. A traditional mortgage from the bank involves borrowing money with interest, whereas we purchase the property with you as partners, debt-free and interest-free.
Explore our home finance product

Alongside our home finance products, we also provide an opportunity to invest and Grow Your Savings in a low-risk portfolio that is secured through a ring-fenced entity.
View our savings products

Our business ethos is to benefit all, and to have a positive impact on individuals, families and society. Our approach avoids the negative economic consequences of interest-based finance such as inflation and market instability.  We put our customers’ needs at the forefront in everything we do – this is what drives us.

So where did it all begin?

It all began from a conversation our CEO Raza Ullah had with a co-worker when he was working as an actuary at the Bank of England. He had told his co-worker he wanted to save his money, buy property, and retire in his mid-thirties from the rental income.

His co-worker wagged his finger and said: ‘Raza, with an actuary skill set, you have a responsibility to actually do something to improve the housing crisis that we find ourselves in, whereas what you’re talking about is actually going to add to it and worsen it.’

As a muslim, this really struck him, it was a very Islamic way of thinking, of helping people with the skillset you have.

It planted the seed in his mind, and later that year when he was on Hajj (Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca)he decided he would make it his mission to do something beneficial for the UK housing market. So he quit his career and started setting up Primary Finance, now Pfida. There wasn’t a true ethical shariah-compliant product available for Muslims and ethically conscious individuals to purchase their own homes, so that’s how the Pfida Home Provision Scheme was founded.

It was something he felt passionately about and after seeking consultation from Sheikh Badrul (Salman) Hasan on the product, our current Chief Legal Officer became Primary Finance’s first customer after renting all his life.

Since then, we have financed over 60 homes and launched three ethical savings products for those looking to earn a halal return on an investment that focuses on providing social benefit.