FIF Subsidiary in Pakistan Partners with Karandaaz on Digital Financial Services
April 20, 2018, Lahore – FINCA Microfinance Bank Limited, FINCA Impact Finance’s subsidiary in Pakistan, announced a strategic partnership with Karandaaz Pakistan, a non-profit, finance-generating organization promoting financial inclusion for small businesses and individuals. The partnership will expand responsible finance in Pakistan by enhancing delivery of digital financial services.
The yearlong partnership is aimed at developing and rolling out digital financial services targeting women entrepreneurs engaged in micro and small-business activities. The partnership will encourage clients to utilize financial technology while engaging in e-commerce. In particular, it aims to promote use of SimSim–Pakistan’s first e-wallet enabling free digital payments–as a mobile payments platform.
FINCA Impact Finance launched SimSim in 2017 to enable digital financial services in Pakistan. SimSim allows users to make and receive payments and conduct money transfers using only a mobile phone–removing the need to visit a bank branch. A first-of-its-kind mobile money product in Pakistan, SimSim has already attracted more than 170,000 users and enabled $46 million worth of financial transactions.
The new partnership is being launched with a grant from Karandaaz Pakistan for developing products to promote financial inclusion among low-income women. Karandaaz aims for increased financial inclusion by employing digital financial solutions and access to finance for micro, small and medium-sized businesses through a commercially-directed investment platform.
Commenting on the venture, FINCA Microfinance Bank Limited CEO Mudassir Aqil said:
“We are proud to collaborate with Karandaaz Pakistan for supporting women entrepreneurship and encouraging their financial inclusion, which currently stands very low in Pakistan. Through this venture, FINCA will develop impactful use cases for women entrepreneur segments, aimed at boosting their business payment ecosystem via our digital financial solution, SimSim.
The partnership is perfectly aligned with FINCA’s purpose of providing innovative and impactful financial services to enable low-income individuals and communities to invest in their futures.”
Karandaaz Pakistan CEO Ali Sarfraz added:
“Karandaaz remains committed to breaking barriers for women’s economic empowerment in Pakistan. Women face several challenges in accessing financial services such as lack of information and access to business networks, mobility, and assets. Karandaaz’s interventions are customized to overcome these challenges. I am confident that our efforts from our annual Karandaaz Women Entrepreneurship Challenge to our annual conference to deliberate on barriers to greater financial inclusion for women are all steps in the right direction and will have a lasting impact on women’s economic empowerment in the country.”
About FINCA Impact Finance
FINCA Impact Finance is a global network of 20 microfinance institutions and banks that provides socially responsible financial services and enables low-income individuals and communities to invest in their futures.
About Karandaaz Pakistan
Karandaaz Pakistan, established in 2014 and registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan as a nonprofit, is promoting access to finance for small businesses through commercially directed investments and financial inclusion for individuals. Karandaaz receives financial and institutional support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the United Kingdom Department for International Development (DFID).