The Telenor Microfinance Bank (TMB) has so far brought in about $300 million in foreign direct investment (FDI) to Pakistan, making it the country's largest FDI in the banking sector. This was stated by TMB Chief Executive Officer Mohammad Mudassar Aqil while talking about the future of financial services and the role of technology towards financial inclusion in Pakistan. According to him, TMB is the first bank in Pakistan to effectively implement a digital first business model, allowing its 11 million monthly active users to access its array of payment, savings, lending, and other digital platform services without having to physically engage with the bank.

This has all been possible due to the bank’s firm emphasis on the future of financial services and certain bold strategic decisions made during the COVID-19 pandemic, he added. Mudassar said Telenor Microfinance Bank/Easypaisa is a joint venture between Telenor Group, the world’s leading telecom provider, and Ant Group, the largest fintech in the world with over 1.3 billion users through its service Alipay and joint ventures in nine countries across Asia.

Both shareholders, he said, are still optimistic about the market's potential for expansion and they have teamed up to create the biggest provider of digital financial services in order to realise their shared goal of using cutting-edge technology to provide banking services to the unbanked that are based on inclusive principles. Mudassar said that TMB/Easypaisa is lucky to have a dream team of investors that not only provide money, technological know-how, and domain knowledge but also most significantly have faith in the future of Pakistan's potential in digital banking.

Their dedication is demonstrated by the $290 million in FDI already put into the business and their promise to spend an additional $30 million over the next 12 months to support the bank's digital first strategy. The first tranche of this investment will be received in November 2022, he added.

Credit : Independent News Pakistan-WealthPk