Khayyam Mahmood Butt, is one of the most experienced IT professionals in Pakistan and was among the first group of persons to join this field in the country. Mr Butt has vast experience in the field of information technology and has over 40 years of experience in Banking.
He served as Senior Executive Vice President and member of the Management Committee in Habib Bank Limited. Mr Butt has also served as Chairperson SWIFT User Group Pakistan for several years where his role was pivotal for the growth of E-banking in the country. He was also the member of ECH task force set up by the State Bank of Pakistan to promote E-banking and E-commerce in Pakistan. Mr Khayyam Mehmood Butt was instrumental in establishing 1LINK (Guarantee) Limited -the largest EFT switch connecting the member banks .Under his leadership, 1LINK launched several value added service for its member banks.
An interview with Mr Khayyam Mahmood Butt, Chief Executive officer of 1LINK.
Q-1. What is 1LINK? 1LINK (Guarantee) Limited is a consortium of major banks that own and operate the largest representative shared financial services network of Pakistan. The company connects 4200+ ATMs of 28 member banks in more than 220+ cities of Pakistan. The company processes more than 5.2 million transactions per month with a value of Rs 26 billion. Today the card base of 1LINK has reached to 11.7 million which includes debit cards, credit cards and prepaid cards.
Q2. What services 1LINK is providing to its member bank besides Cash withdrawals? 1LINK is not just limited to ATM cash withdrawals. Since its inception, 1LINK has launch different value added service which includes; interbank funds transfer (IBFT), Utility Bills Payment service and VISA Debit Services.
InterBank Fund Transfer is a facility that allows customers to instantly send and receive funds across the country. The service is also diversified into C2C, B2C and B2B payments. Utility Bills Payment service offers convenience to customers to pay their Utility Bills or top up their cell phone round the clock using various delivery channels offered by member banks. 1LINK allows member banks to use a wide array of Delivery Channels like mobile, internet, Call Center and IVR etc to perform IBFT and Bills Payment/Top-up transaction. The service is instant, secure and available 24/7.
1LINK VISA Debit Service offers VISA Certification and Connectivity to member banks to issue/acquire VISA Debit Cards which can be used on the Global VISA Network. This allows VISA debit card holders to spend and shop locally and internationally using VISA debit services through 1LINK
Q3. How 1LINK contributes towards the development of Pakistan? During the last year, various parts of the country were hit by the worst flood in the history of the country. 1LINK responded promptly by launching a Charity Payment Service which allows member banks to transfer funds for the relief activity using 1LINK IBFT .1LINK also enabled the use of WATAN Cards across the country to support IDPs and BISP programs. In the light of SBP Pakistan Remittance Initiative (PRI), 1LINK launched IBFT B2C Online Remittance Service to provide a unique opportunity to member banks for speeding up Inward Remittance Delivery to the beneficiary's accounts.