In an effort to promote Digital Financial Services (DFS) in Pakistan, National Institutional Facilitation Technologies NIFT, an existing Payment System Operator/Provider (PSO/PSP) offering nation-wide cheque clearing services, has signed an agreement with Bank Alfalah, one of Pakistan’s leading and progressive banks, to facilitate settlement services for mobile/electronic commerce payments (Digital Commerce Payments) through NIFT’s DFS platform under the brand name “NIFT ePay” using bank accounts. Through this partnership, NIFT ePay and Bank Alfalah will enable for the first time in Pakistan, the use of bank accounts & wallets to execute secure and interoperable digital commerce payments. Banking customers maintaining their account with any member bank of NIFT E-payment scheme will be able to use this facility. Must Read: Telenor Pakistan condemns sacrilegious incident and highlights commitment to the country Bank Alfalah, being one of the leading merchant acquiring banks in Pakistan and a trusted name in payments will act as the settlement bank among NIFT ePay member banks in Pakistan. The settlement bank will also support NIFT for handling disputes/claims e.g. duplicate processing for a seamless customer experience across the industry. The agreement was signed by Mr. Haider Wahab, CEO, NIFT and Ms. Mehreen Ahmed, Group Head – Retail Banking, Bank Alfalah in the presence of teams from both entities. Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Haider Wahab– CEO NIFT said, “Growth of Digital Payments is certain, given the focus and initiatives taken by State Bank of Pakistan and the Government on driving digitization and financial inclusion in Pakistan. The recently launched National Payment Systems Strategy (NPSS) and the MPG initiative by SBP lays out a clear and solid framework for a digital payments network in the country, NIFT looks to embracing these initiatives and the tremendous opportunities this will bring about. NIFT has been providing consistent services to the financial industry over the past two decades and its time that we play our role in creating a reliable, secure, and interoperable payments systems which enables different digital payments use cases in Pakistan. We are very excited venturing into these new partnerships with the industry to offer new range of Digital Financial Services providing same level of confidence that is expected from NIFT by the industry. We are pleased to sign up Bank Alfalah as NIFT ePay settlement bank having strong and common understanding of managing digital payment operations. The bank has over the years demonstrated progressive innovation around digital services which forms the common bridge between the two organizations.” Ms. Mehreen Ahmed remarked, “Bank Alfalah is proud to be an enabler for an innovative & first of its kind solution being launched by NIFT. We are a dominant player in the payments and digital space, and will continue to play our role in spearheading and facilitating payments in the country. Through this partnership, while we will be at the core of enabling the payments industry for a new service, I am also excited that this will open up a new transaction set for the bank’s account & wallet holders.”
Karandaaz Joins Hands with Bank Alfalah and DigiServ to develop an Innovative Credit Scoring Model for SMEs
Karandaaz Pakistan, under its third round of Innovation Challenge Fund (ICF), has signed an agreement with a consortium of Bank Alfalah Limited and DigiServ, for developing an innovative, cash-flow based, credit scoring model for small and medium enterprises (SMEs). During this challenge, Karandaaz had invited ideas from entities interested in developing and testing innovative credit scoring models for SME lending in the country. Bank Alfalah is the fifth largest private bank in Pakistan with a network of 630+ branches. The Bank has been endeavouring to transform the landscape of banking in Pakistan by riding the waves of global digital trends. By introducing a wide array of technologically advanced features, the Bank is determined to provide its customers the new way forward. Bank Alfalah’s consortium partner, DigiServ, is a communication technology provider with a dynamic integration of people, skills, and services. Bank Alfalah and DigiServ will use this support from Karandaaz to design and test an innovative method of calculating credit scores for SME obligors looking to avail credit from the bank. Currently, banks generally use collateral to cover their credit risk of lending to SMEs. Although SMEs accounts for 30 percent of GDP, generate 78 percent of non-agri employment, and contribute 25 percent of manufactured goods exports, their ability to access finance suffers due to onerous credit assessment requirements of banks. As a result, SMEs continue to rely on their own resources or informal financial sources to meet their financing needs. The initiative emerging from the collaboration between Karandaaz in partnership with Bank Alfalah and DigiServ will disrupt the status quo for assessing credit needs and risks of SMEs and help lead the industry to break away from the conventional and un-scalable models. Must Read: Huawei Irked by Third extension of Temporary General License by US Commerce Department Ali Sarfraz, CEO Karandaaz Pakistan said, “We are confident that the funding from Karandaaz for this consortium of Bank Alfalah and DigiServ will help the bank pursue the agenda of disruption and innovation in financial sector and develop a model of innovative credit scoring that favours SME lending. Through this Challenge Fund, Karandaaz has motivated innovators to look beyond the obvious and come up with credit scoring ideas that suit small and medium sized entrepreneurs. Small and medium sized businesses must be provided an environment where access to finance through formal channels is easy for them so that they grow, create more jobs, and benefit the overall economy.” Mehreen Ahmed, Group Head Bank Alfalah said, “Bank Alfalah Limited is a dominant player in the Commercial & SME financing space, providing innovative solutions & supporting particularly the small borrowers with non-financial advisory services to help them scale up. We are grateful to Karandaaz Pakistan and their main sponsor, UK’s Department for International Development (DFID), for driving the financial industry towards innovation and technology based innovative credit scoring models that will benefit the SME sector in the country. We are pleased to announce this initiative as we firmly believe that the way forward is strengthening our SMEs and be able to provide greater access of banking facilities to them. A credit assessment scorecard going beyond the conventional methods of credit risk assessment should be an important catalyst in expanding our outreach to this very important sector of the country. Ultimately the aim is to make the credit assessment process more efficient and customized on the back of digitization & analytics.” Dr Asim I Khwaja, Professor at Harvard Kennedy School & Director of the Centre for International Development at Harvard said, “DigiServ is striving to unleash the entrepreneurial potential of small businesses in Pakistan by enabling financial access to them through alternative credit scoring techniques. This partnership with Karandaaz and Bank Alfalah will help us design, test and scale solutions that demonstrate the possibilities offered by data and technology for the financial sector and generate both economic and social impact.” Karandaaz Pakistan is supporting small and medium entrepreneurs by increasing access to finance for unbanked populations by leveraging digital technologies, developing and disseminating evidence based insights, and encouraging innovation in financial space. Karandaaz has been funded by UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Bank Alfalah & MoneyGram Launch Home Remittance Service to All Bank Accounts in Pakistan
Bank Alfalah and MoneyGram are pleased to announce the launch of their new Home Remittance account deposit service to Pakistan, using which overseas Pakistanis can now use MoneyGram for near instant deposit of home remittancein any bank account in Pakistan. The launch of this service further strengthens the decade long partnership, whereby Bank Alfalah has been serving as the top banking partner for pay-out of MoneyGram’s cash pickup remittances in Pakistan. The launch of this service is a part of Bank Alfalah’s strategy to leverage its cutting edge technology to offer overseas Pakistanis ever more convenient and smarter ways of sending home remittances to Pakistan. MoneyGram’s customers across 200 countries can now use this newly launched service to save time, effort and often the high fees associated with international bank transfers for remitting money to their loved ones back home in Pakistan. Must Read: Pakistan’s new best seller budget king realme 5 sold out with record breaking offline sale At the launch of the service in UK, Bilal Asghar, Bank Alfalah’s Group Head for Corporate, Investment Banking & International Business Division, stated, “It gives us immense pleasure to exclusively power MoneyGram’s launch of near instant & real-time account deposit service for Pakistan. In keeping with its role as a leader in financial technology par excellence, Bank Alfalah has yet again proven that it is indeed ‘The Way Forward’. We will continue our work with the Pakistan Remittance Initiative (PRI) team to enhance our global coverage as well as offer even more innovative and efficient ways of sending home remittances to Pakistan”. Commenting on the relationship, Bank Alfalah’s Group Head for Retail Banking, Mehreen Ahmed said, “We at Bank Alfalah have always had customer convenience as our first and foremost priority. We are always seeking ways to take our services a step further and are happy to have partnered with MoneyGram to make international remittances more convenient for [all] bank account holders in Pakistan”. “Pakistan is a key market that is positioned for growth, especially in terms of receiving remittances,” said Grant Lines, Chief Revenue Officer for MoneyGram. “We want to do everything we can to make our services more convenient and accessible for people here. Bank Alfalahis known for providing a broad spectrum of financial solutions, so I’m quite excited about this partnership. It will allow ustomake it easier for friends and family to send money and provide greater economic inclusion for Pakistan.” Bank Alfalah’s Head of Financial Institutions, Home Remittances & International Business, Faisal Rashid stated, “We are extremely excited about this partnership. Being the chosen partner of MoneyGram demonstrates the strength of our system and platforms that Bank Alfalah prides itself on. It goes without saying that the Pakistan Remittance Initiative (PRI) of the State Bank of Pakistan has played a significant role in boosting remittances to our country and Bank Alfalah is honoured to be a part of this initiative from the very beginning. The signing of this arrangement could not have been possible without the guidance and support of the entire Pakistan Remittance Initiative (PRI) team”. According to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), overseas Pakistanis sent home USD 21.84 Billion during FY19, an increase of 9.7% over FY18, making Pakistan the 7th largest remittance recipient country in the world. The new bank deposit service stands to aidthis market and provide all bank account holders in Pakistan a fast and easy way to receive money from their loved ones living outside the country.
Bank Alfalah and British Council Pakistan Operational Alliance Signing Ceremony
A signing ceremony led by Nauman Ansari (CEO Bank Alfalah) and Dr. Jo Beall (Director Education and Society, British Council Executive Board) was held on 5th October 2017 at British Council Library, Karachi. This ceremony marked the formal initiation of an Operational Alliance for CSR Digital Social Spaces and other activities between the British Council Pakistan and Bank Alfalah Ltdincluding the establishment of Digital Social Spaces at selected Bank Alfalahbranches countrywide and the inclusion of British Council-curated libraries at Bank Alfalah Airport Premier Lounges. This partnership reflects both organisations’ commitment to social responsibility, innovative thinking and the use of cutting edge technology to deliver value. Also present at the ceremony were: Rosemary Hilhorst (Country Director, British Council Pakistan), Maarya Rehman (Director Libraries, British Council Pakistan), Khurram Hussain (Group Head,Retail Central and Northand Consumer Banking, Bank Alfalah), Mehreen Ahmed (Group Head, Retail South & New Initiatives, Bank Alfalah) and Faaria Salahuddin (Head Transactional Banking, Bank Alfalah). The British Council is the UK’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities. They create friendly knowledge and understanding between the people of the UK and other countries. They do this by making a positive contribution to the UK and the countries they work with – changing lives by creating opportunities, building connections and engendering trust. They have been working in Pakistan since 1947 in the fields of arts and culture, English language, education and civil society. This year marks 70 years of the British Council working in Pakistan, which it is celebrating through diverse activities and programming, ranging from cultural festivals and alumni events to forming new partnership and increasing our digital footprint.
