easypaisa

Published on September 23rd, 2011 | by Arsalan Mir

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Mobilink To Launch Branchless Banking Service

It was much speculated after the launch of Telenor Easypaisa for similar model branchless banking service coming from Mobilink. Things are now clear after the State Bank of Pakisan (SBP) approved the license of Orascom (parent company of Mobilink) to initiate microfinance banking in the country last week as reported by Express Tribune.

Orascom through its 100% owned unit Oracap had acquired the Waseela Bank in November 2010 in a total value deal of $ 11.5 million.

Mobilink’s branchless banking (BB) venture will be the second in MNO/Bank model after Telenor’s Easypaisa and first one to give real competition to the latter. It is expected that with competition will bring in financial inclusion and thus benefit the end users of the services. We can expect a race in mobile banking offers and cost of service to get competitive after Mobilink’s BB venture hits the market.

Talking about the first mover advantage, Mobilink has been playing well on it with their cellular services but on the BB front, Telenor as pioneers of such services takes the lead. The official comments from CEO/President of Tameer Bank are:

The unbanked population in Pakistan is so large, that any one entity cannot cater to it. More players in the market means that the onus of educating people will be divided and growth in the market will be good for everyone providing mobile financial services.

As with name of the service it is most likely to be called by the name of the bank i.e. “Waseela”. However things may become clear near the launch which in expected in coming months.

Tags: branchless banking, easypaisa, Mobilink, Telenor, Waseela

About the Author

Arsalan Mir is a Telecom enthusiast with engineering background based in Lahore. On professional front, he is the Director Operations at the Target Group. He can be reached at arsalan (at) telecompk (dot) net

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