Telco to help rural majority access banking services

Dtac's Pakistani partner lays blueprint for developing countries

Telenor Pakistan, the country's number two mobile operator, has recently purchased a bank and is now using its banking license through its network of franchisees and top-up agents to offer banking services to Pakistan's largely unbanked population, with savings, insurance and international remittance soon to follow.

Remote Telenor Franchise in the misty hills of Dungagali, Pakistan. Telenor has 150,000 franchisees. Some 20-30,000 of these will be upgraded and trainedto offer EasyPaisa microfinance to the unbanked majority in Pakistan.

Known as EasyPaisa, the idea by Telenor and the State Bank of Pakistan is to find a sustainable, profitable new banking model to help the billions in developing countries break out of the cycle of poverty by providing them with low-cost, convenient financial services.

In an exclusive interview, Roar Bjaerum, Telenor Pakistan Vice-President for Financial Services, and Arif
Abdul Qayyam, Telenor Pakistan Director for Financial Services, explained the history of this innovative project.

Tameer Bank eyes 30m bill payments by year-end

by: The News(Daily English Newspaper) 

Around 300,000 utility bills were paid through the facility of ‘easypaisa’ in March, while these numbers will be enhanced to 30 million by the end of the current year, a top executive of the bank said.

In a lecture on Friday on “New developments in microfinance”, Nadeem Hussain, President, Tameer Microfinance Bank, said that the consumers are availing the off-banking facility through retail network. “The consumers are also being provided a facility of remittances at the local level,” he added.