The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), Pakistan’s central banking authority, has reportedly granted approval to Orascom, an international telecommunications company headquartered in Cairo, Egypt, to initiate a mobile microfinance banking service in Pakistan. Mobilink, a subsidiary of Orascom, serves about 31 million subscribers throughout Pakistan. The Mobilink banking service will allow customers to make money transfers using their mobile phones.
Telenor, a mobile phone service provider that created another mobile financial service in Pakistan called Easypaisa, has been described as holding a monopoly in the market. The President and CEO of Easypaisa, Nadeem Hussain, has publicly welcomed the competition saying that, “the unbanked population in Pakistan is so large, that any one entity cannot cater to it. More players in the market means that the onus of educating people will be divided and growth in the market will be good for everyone providing mobile financial services.” [1]
By Cameron Milani, Research Associate
About the State Bank of Pakistan: Established in 1956, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) is the nation’s central banking authority. SBP is responsible for the following primary functions: to regulate and supervise the nation’s financial system, to carry out monetary policy and to manage public debt. In addition, SBP performs the following non-traditional functions: developing the financial framework of the country, providing credit to priority sectors and furthering the Islamization of the banking system.
Sources and Additional Resources:
[1] The Express Tribune, “Bringing out the big guns: Mobilink to roll out branchless banking service,” http://tribune.com.pk/story/258265/bringing-out-the-big-guns-mobilink-to…
Pro Pakistani, “Exclusive: Mobilink Buys Waseela Bank to Offer Mobile Banking Services,” http://propakistani.pk/2011/09/22/mobilink-buys-waseela-bank-to-offer-mo…
MicroCapital.org story, July 11, 2011, “MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Easypaisa, Branchless Banking Service of Tameer Microfinance Bank Limited, Telenor Pakistan Facilitates $9m in Remittances Over 10 Months” https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-easypaisa-branchless-bank…
MicroCapital Universe Profile: State Bank of Pakistan, https://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/tiki-index.php?page=Sta…
Similar Posts:
- MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: HugoBank, KT, Mashreq, Raqami Islamic, Telenor Microfinance Earn Regulatory Approval to Pilot Digital Banking Services in Pakistan
- MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: China Mobile’s Zong Unveils PayMax Payment Service in Pakistan
- MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Axis Launches axisPay Mobile Money App for Small Businesses in Egypt
- MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “Mobile Money, Interoperability and Financial Inclusion;” by Markus K Brunnermeier et al; published by National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)
- MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Banco de Credito del Peru (BCP) Launches iO Banking App with Support from i2C
