Control spending, get rich slowly.

AuthorAli, Alifiya Aun
PositionEasypaisa mobile app

Byline: Alifiya Aun Ali

Recent Findex stats find that ownership of financial accounts in Pakistan - including those with commercial banks, microfinance institutions, and mobile money accounts - has risen to 21% of the adult population, compared to 10% in 2011. Albeit slow, the rise in account uptake is a cause for hope for Pakistan and has largely been enabled by leveraging technology to build advanced and inclusive financial solutions. The resolve of the government, regulatory authorities, and financial services institutions has also played an instrumental role in banking millions of unbanked Pakistanis, improving their access to swift and hassle-free financial solutions, and digitizing the local financial services landscape.

Not many years ago, Pakistan's financial services sector was in a morbid state with over 100 million Pakistani adults - accounting for 5% of the world's unbanked population - lacking a formal bank account. Women's access, at merely 5% of the total adult account holders in Pakistan, was even more concerning as it forced them to resort to informal, often unscrupulous, means of financial support or services. The underprivileged segment of the population was the worst hit as opening an account in a conventional bank was complicated and full of hassles. Tedious paperwork and distance to the nearest financial institution remained top barriers to opening a formal financial account.

Things needed to be drastically simplified in order to bring financial inclusion to the masses. Easypaisa, the country's first branchless banking service, resolved this by enabling account opening and sending and receiving money simply through a basic mobile phone. The product leveraged Pakistan's healthy teledensity, which stands at a promising 76% today, to deliver financial services straight to users' mobile phones. In a very short time, a network of Easypaisa retailers and franchises mushroomed across the country, serving millions of customers each day.

This triggered the digital transformation of Pakistan's financial landscape with branchless banking becoming the cornerstone of Pakistan's National Financial Inclusion Strategy of 2015.

Evolving from mobile banking into a complete lifestyle solution

Pioneering mobile banking in Pakistan and becoming the foremost branchless banking brand in the country, Easypaisa continued its journey towards expanding its services portfolio to serve customers better. To facilitate the users of other mobile...

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