Bayfikr, a London based Pakistani FinTech, has launched for Overseas Pakistanis with an aim of increasing and streamlining remittances into the country.
According to their CEO & Co-founder, Rascim Khattak, Bayfikr has launched for Overseas Pakistanis in the UK initially. The company will expand into the Middle East & North America later this year.
Pakistan is heavily reliant on inward remittances. An amount of $30 billion was sent by Overseas Pakistanis last year and this year, remittances will rise to $33bn according to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP). February 2022 saw monthly remittances of $2.2bn according to SBP’s latest figures.
“Our goal is to help Pakistan increase remittances through formal channels by making it easier and more convenient for Overseas Pakistanis to send money & make payments in Pakistan,” Rascim said. “Through our app, Pakistanis abroad can send money to their Roshan Digital Accounts (RDAs), or any other bank account. More importantly, they can pay their Pakistani bills like electricity, gas, or mobile directly from their international bank accounts in less than 10 seconds.”
Bayfikr removes the middle step when paying a bill or business. Users can simply select a bill, enter their customer ID & pay. They do not need to send money to someone. The biller gets paid directly. Bayfikr takes advantage of Open Banking architecture & faster payment rails to make this happen. This, according to the CEO, reduces time & removes friction in the payment process.
The app has all electricity, mobile networks & gas companies along with education & government payments. It also enables people to send Zakat/charity payments to leading charities like Shaukat Khanum, Edhi & Shahid Afridi Foundation. The company will enable payments to more than 500 billers & businesses by this summer.
Ali Masood, the COO & co-founder, said, “We want Pakistanis to be Bayfikr about their loved ones in Pakistan especially when it comes to payments.” Being expats Pakistanis themselves, the founding team felt the need to reduce the pain of making payments & sending money to Pakistan by making the process faster, convenient & cheaper.
Currently, the app can be downloaded by Pakistanis in the UK but the startup founders said they will expand into other countries like the UAE, Saudi Arabia, US & Canada.
The Bayfikr app is an innovation in the fintech sector. They completed their alpha testing last year and now the app can be downloaded on iOS & Android. The founders say that they will work with users directly to constantly improve the app so they can serve their users well. It can be downloaded at https://www.bayfikr.net/.