20.500.12556/DKUM-94099 Establishing a digital participation bank in North Macedonia opportunities and challenges in interest-free finance Ustanovitev digitalne participativne banke v Severni Makedoniji: priložnosti in izzivi brezobrestnega financiranja This paper aims to explore the feasibility of establishing a digital participation bank in North Macedonia based on the principles of interest-free finance. This system has been part of ethical and equitable financial systems in the major Abrahamic religions. Thus, as interest-free finance becomes more popular worldwide, digital banking presents a new approach to incorporating these principles into the Macedonian banking system. Here, the purpose of the paper is to discuss the applicability of establishing a digital participation bank in North Macedonia based on interest-free finance principles, by drawing on global best practices. In that sense, this paper provides an analysis of the interest–free finance and intends to describe the banking environment in North Macedonia and the necessary regulatory and market changes. Furthermore, it offers recommendations for integrating ethical, interest-free finance into the Macedonian digital banking sector. Findings indicate that the country has strong potential, due to its diverse population, growing SMEs sector and demand for ethical financial services, but at the core, significant legal and institutional changes are required. Finally, the paper concludes with the opportunities that digital interest-free finance has in financial inclusion, investment attractiveness, and integration with the digital transformation strategy; while detected challenges refer to regulatory changes, consumer and institutional education. digital participation banking interest-free finance ethical finance digital transformation digitalno bančništvo brezobrestno financiranje etično financiranje digitalna transformacija true false true Angleški jezik Slovenski jezik Znanstveno delo 2025-08-01 13:45:15 2025-08-01 13:45:16 2026-03-12 15:17:41 0000-00-00 00:00:00 2025 0 0 str. 25-33 no. 2 Vol. 71 jun. 2025 0000-00-00 Zaloznikova Objavljeno NiDoloceno 0000-00-00 0000-00-00 2025-07-04 336.71:004(497.7) 244616451 10.2478/ngoe-2025-0009 0547-3101 https://journals.um.si/index.php/oe/article/view/5264 1 fe22fd32-6ecc-11f0-b4b0-00155d000105 https://dk.um.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=194681 RAZ_Lokce_Ahmet_2025.pdf RAZ_Lokce_Ahmet_2025.pdf 1 5D8B8440F15E252A252117F580D4B2E4 51aed66eb8b6ffb81ead4abb335c56749b44ce1c459126fbaf6dbdc95354cc5c 18d33e70-6ecd-11f0-b4b0-00155d000105 https://dk.um.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=194682 Ekonomsko-poslovna fakulteta Naše gospodarstvo Naše gospodarstvo 0 0 0