Meezan Bank has joined hands with Monet and Warid Telecom as partners for the rollout of sharia based branchless banking, an exciting and important new initiative that will allow people who do not have access to financial services to avail Islamic banking services.
Meezan Bank signed an MoU with Bank Alflah and Warid Telecom as founding member to create Mobile Money Network which would be subject to SBP approvals under the branchless banking regulations.
The arrangement will give Meezan Bank access to the extensive agent network provided by Monet. Account holders of both Meezan and Monet will be able to send or receive money from each other. This interconnection between two independent branchless banking platforms would be the first of its kind in Pakistan.
Arshad Majeed, Group Head Operations of Meezan Bank said “At Meezan Bank we understand that branchless banking will be a critical platform in providing access to financial services in Pakistan. This arrangement will extend benefits of Shariah-compliant branchless banking to millions of Pakistanis.”
Muneer Farooqui, CEO of Warid Telecom said “Warid is excited to play its role in the development of a first-of-its-kind financial eco-system with partner banks for our customers and distribution networks. The Warid Payment Gateway is the first step to create a bridge between distribution networks and banks with an independent PSP like Monet”.
Younas Iqbal Sheikh of Warid Telecom said “cellular technology holds the key to development and growth of the economy in developing nations, since their reach is un-matched in terms of connectivity. The Warid Payment Gateway has the potential to revolutionize the way small & large businesses transact on a daily basis in Pakistan with the ultimate beneficiaries being Pakistani citizens, whether it is a cattle farmer selling his products to a multinational dairy on a daily basis, a small business owner making routine payments to suppliers, or a large financial institution making large B2B payments.”
Ali Abbas Sikander, CEO of Monet said “We are building an interoperable and collaborative eco-system which benefits all the stakeholders of the financial services in Pakistan to extend outreach to large financially excluded segments. The power of collaboration would allow Financial Institutions to look beyond technology, and focus on utilizing its benefits to offer products that give them access to new customers with a branchless advantage.”
Monet technology developed in partnership with Fundamo, Access Group, TPS and IBM is robust, secure and scalable to service large branchless banking deployments. The same has been approved by SBP for its existing deployments.
