ISLAMABAD: The working women including salaried professionals having Micro-Small Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) are availing facility of the Mobilink Microfinance Bank Limited (MMBL) Bint-e-Hawa loan on easy terms and conditions.

Talking to Business Recorder here on Saturday, Muhammad Asim Anwar, Chief Business and Products Officer at Mobilink Microfinance Bank Limited (MMBL) said that the MMBL wants to fast-track its road to financial diversity and inclusion by encompassing all segments of the population, even in the remotest parts of the country, under its sustainable digital banking model.

The MMBL's goal is to provide the best banking experience for those that are underserved and unserved across rural and urban areas. All our products are designed under the idea of facilitating basic needs sustainably. Many of our products are developed after careful consideration of who will use these products and are customised as per consumer preferences, he said.

For instance, while developing Bint-e-Hawa loan, which is the MMBL's unique offering for women from all fields and backgrounds, we aimed to target working women starting from salaried professionals to women who owned MSMEs and kept the terms and conditions as easy as possible. The goal was to make a holistic product that would fully encourage female participation in the economic sphere and allow them to break barriers in their own professional growth.

Women's integration into the workforce plays a critical role in the revival of our economy and improved financial standing, as they comprise almost half of our country's population and cannot be left behind if we are to progress significantly.

"We are devoted to the cause of utilizing the best possible technologies and providing a diverse range of products and services for agriculture, which is one of the main contributors of our GDP; along with SMBs that contribute a hefty portion of 40 percent to Pakistan's GDP. Moreover, our fastly-expanding Commercial Vehicle Loan (CVL) portfolio and housing finance fulfilling the dreams of many. Going forward on our trajectory at the same pace, we are venturing out to pursue new verticals and creating fresh possibilities that will be at the core of our microfinance banking, using the power of digital technologies," he maintained.

The microfinance veteran stated the road to financial inclusion in Pakistan remains quite distant as the vast majority of Pakistani's, slightly over 70 percent, still remain unbanked.

Many of our women and men continue to mistrust the formal banking sector and continue to depend on cash-based transactions. Over the years, we have exerted great efforts to strengthen the positive image of formal banking amongst people by holding capacity building workshops and training for many of our customers; especially female borrowers through programs such as the Women Inspirational Network (WIN) that educates women about financial literacy through various upskilling sessions, the chief business and products officer of MMBL stated.

Additionally, the MMBL has made services easier to avail by digitalising its core business processes as well as adopting technology-based solutions. One of the recent examples is the launch of our mobile application, DOST- Powered by MMBL which is "Aap ka Mukammal Digital Bank".

This app is designed to provide all basic banking facilities for our customers, starting from transactions and bill payments to efficient documentation for seeking loans. DOST app is a one-stop digital banking solution, smoothening the customer experience and increasing reliability at the same time.

The financial inclusion is a multi-dimensional problem, one that needs to be addressed through the joint consultation and working of all relevant public-private stakeholders.

Muhammad Asim Anwar said that during the Covid-19, we witnessed a massive change in consumer behavior where the value of mobile banking, internet banking, and e-commerce transactions have more than doubled during the third quarter of the current fiscal year (Q3FY21) compared to the same period during last year.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021