Warid & Bank Alfalah ink Agreement with National Bank of Pakistan for the Collaboration in building the National Payment Ecosystem
Warid Telecom and Bank Alfalah Limited (BAFL) signed an agreement with National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) in order to jointly develop the digital financial ecosystem in the country. This new venture was marked with a graceful signing ceremony in Lahore, which was attended by Mr. Mudassir H. Khan – SEVP/Group Chief CRBG of NBP, Mr. Suhail Jan Chief Commercial Officer –Warid , Mr. Khurram Hussain – Group Head Retail (C &N) and Consumer Banking and Mr. Azfar Jamal – EVP/Head of Remote Banking & ADC – NBP amongst other senior officials from all the three entities.
This initiative is a major step to develop the required Digital Financial Services to be hosted by National Bank that will include P2G & G2P, thus enabling customers to perform transactions through National Bank Accounts using the Digital Wallets, digital channels of Bank Alfalah and the Mobile Paisa wallets & distribution network.
Collaboration among large sized banks and the leading Telcos is the stepping stone in building the right road to financial inclusion that gives the much-required boost to the economic activity and caters the need of unbanked and under-served masses of Pakistan. The partnering organizations believe that the formal financial services,
through digital payment channels, can have a positive impact on a variety of microeconomic indicators, including self-employment, household consumption and wellbeing.
These features aim to provide convenient banking and money management options to both those with and without bank accounts. The collaboration between the massive, government-owned NBP, the influential and popular Bank Alfalah, and one of Pakistan’s favorite Telco’s, Warid; will take the financial services to a new level.
From center left – Warid’s Chief Commercial Officer Suhail Jan while exchanging documents with Mudassir H. Khan – SEVP Group Chief CRBG NBP
Warid’s CEO, Mr. Muneer Farooqui commented, “NBP has dominated the G2P/P2G market for years. Our customers will get benefit from the plethora of products and services offered by NBP. We are glad to be taking this step in what we hope will be a long and fruitful relationship with NBP. The Eco-system being developed by NBP will strengthen all of the market players including our Warid Telecom to progress on the road of financial inclusion in Pakistan.”
L – Azfar Jamal – EVPHead-Remote Banking & ADC NBP, Faisal Khan Sadozai – Director MFS Warid, Suhail Jan – CCO Warid, Mudassir H. Khan–SEVPGroup Chief CRBG NBP, Khurram Hussain – Group Head Retail (C&N)
Speaking at the ceremony Mr. Mudassir H. Khan said “National Bank envisions big opportunities to promote financial inclusion through new technologies, and through that; to drive inclusive and sustainable growth. We believe that combining the strengths of Telcos and Banks together can take us closer to our vision. NBP strongly believes in collaborations and leveraging of services to create new paradigms in financial services within the country. NBP now aims to develop an Eco-system in collaboration with all market players to host P2G & G2P services by enabling every Pakistani to pay any Government fees like traffic challans, taxes etc.
Mr. Azfar Jamal, EVP/Head of ADCs & Remote Banking National Bank added, “The merits of financial inclusion are strongly rooted in empowerment. Access to financial services is a key link between economic opportunity and economic outcome. This collaboration is part of NBP’s strategy to facilitate the people of Pakistan by developing a Digital Financial Eco-System allowing customers to avail any P2G and G2P services 24/7 through all available Digital Channels. This initiative of NBP to build the required Digital Payment Eco-system in partnership with multiple Banks and Telcos, will be catalyst to extend convenience to every citizen of Pakistan and creating the much required E-Governance structure.”
Bank Alfalah’s Group Head Retail (C&N) and Consumer Banking Mr. Khurram Hussain exhibited great confidence in the venture and remarked that “This partnership between the three organizations will help in bringing transactional convenience to millions of underserved people of Pakistan. Bank Alfalah has been involved in helping to digitize G2P and P2G payments since 2012 and look forward to working with National Bank of Pakistan in creating the Digital Financial Eco-System.”
