Digitt+, Pakistan’s first agriculture focused fintech, announced on Tuesday that the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has formally granted it approval to pilot launch their Electronic Money Institution (EMI). Digitt+ is powered by Akhtar Fuiou Technologies (AFT).
Digitt+ said it is committed to digitising the agricultural ecosystem, offering financial inclusion to farmers and unbanked people through its technology, partnerships, and relationships with agribusinesses and FMCGs in Pakistan.
Digitt+ has partnered with FuiouPay, a leading international payment solutions provider, to provide market-based alternative to the traditional banking system. FuiouPay offers holistic enabling solutions through their seventy five intellectual property licenses and several patented softwares.
Qasim Akhtar Khan, Founder and Chief Strategy Officer at Digitt+, talked about the scale and potential of the venture: "We look forward to providing financial technology solutions to the farmers of Pakistan who will be able to open bank accounts and gain access to credit and modern digital financial services such as bill payments, e-commerce, investments, and money transfers. This effort has the potential to solve food security issues, enhance crop yields, and improve human welfare in Pakistan, directly impacting thousands of farmers and merchants."
Pakistan has been an agriculture powerhouse for decades. Agriculture employs almost half of the country’s workforce and contributes about 25% to GDP. Despite its size and prominence, the sector does not have commensurate access to financial services from the banking system.
Furthermore, recent climate change has devastated farmers and deeply impacted their production, thus making access to financial technology all the more important. Such services can provide much-needed access to formal banking channels and donor agencies to support farmers in adapting to climate change.
“At Digitt+, we are using technology to develop innovative digital financial products focusing on microservices to build a comprehensive platform that will enable the delivery of these solutions to a wide range of users, not only for the retail Agri market but for the corporate sector as well, through the provision of specialized business tools.” added Ahmed Saleemi, CEO of Digitt+, giving further insight on how the company would unlock the potential of the agri economy.