Microfinance banks are playing a vital role in the growth and development of the banking industry by extending banking services to unbanked masses. Addressing 6th International Conference on "Mobile Commerce" here on Thursday, President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Tameer Microfinance Bank Nadeem Hussain said branchless banking (BBs) has witnessed a massive growth and its transactions have reached some 10 million mark.
Governor State Bank of Pakistan, Yaseen Anwar was the chief guest of the conference, which was organised by Total Communications in collaboration with the State Bank of Pakistan and Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA). "With current fastest growth, it is being expected that in future the branchless banking may dominate the retail banking," he added.
Talking about the Tameer Microfinance Bank, Nadeem Hussain said that Tameer Bank is Pakistan's first private sector microfinance bank, which has introduced the first stand-alone health insurance programme in rural areas to protect poor household from falling below poverty line.
He said that 'Easypaisa' has helped those Pakistanis who have no bank accounts. He also stressed the need for developing ecosystem in the country. The current achievements in branchless banking are also supported by information technology as during last few years, the country achieved enormous advancement in the field of information technology, he added.
He also held a presentation on "Developing the economy system opportunities and challenges," and briefed the participants about 'Easypaisa'. President and CEO of Bank Alfalah, Atif Bajwa said there is need for focusing on small and medium enterprises and agribusiness. He said Bank Alfalah and Warid have joined hands to establish a platform, which will serve the masses in a befitting manner. He endorsed the views of other speakers regarding increase in mobile banking in Pakistan, adding that the SME sector should take full advantage of this facility.
The conference has three sessions. In the first session Chief Executive Officer of Fundamo Hannes Van Rensburg and Senior Director of mCommerce SAP Tarik Husain highlighted the increasing trend of mobile banking in Pakistan. In the second session, Roar Bjaerum Vice President of Financial Services Telenor Pakistan, Daniel Radcliffe Program Officer Mobile Money Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Ghazanfar Azzam President and Chief Executive Officer Waseela Bank, Qasif Shahid Executive Vice President & Head of Remote Banking MCB Bank Limited and Salman Wassay Chief Commercial Officer Ufone gave presentations on challenges ahead in branchless banking, a digital pathway to financial inclusion.
Later, a panel discussion on the topic of "Is the time right to develop an agent level interoperability or should new entrants still pursue independent network," was conducted, which was moderated by Daniel Radcliffe. Speakers cited other regional countries saying that Pakistan is fast becoming a leading country in the field of mobile banking. At the end of the conference, mementos were distributed among the Speakers.