The future is Fintech and Pakistan is ready

[_NOBODY_]

Global investors back fintech KTrade - the ‘Robinhood’ of Pakistan
Mon, June 7, 2021, 4:00 PM

Stock trading app attracts marquee tech investors. The volume of shares traded on Pakistan Stock Exchange have increased 7x over the past 18 months driven by an increase in retail trading.

Karachi, Pakistan --News Direct-- Stockwood Strategy

Leading Pakistani fintech stock trading app KTrade today announced it has raised $4.5m in a funding round from a range of global investors and institutions led by Hong Kong-based TTB Partners, and HOF Capital from New York. German fintech investor Christian Angermayer, the Managing Partner of German bank Berenberg David Mortlock, and leading Pakistani business families also participated in the round.

KTrade is the fintech retail trading app created by KASB Securities, the leading stock brokerage in Pakistan. KTrade provides easy access to financial markets for retail investors much like its global peers such as XP in Brazil, Zerodha and Groww in India, Tiger in China, Flatex in Germany and Robinhood in the US.

Fintech: Stock trading app KTrade targets 10m users by 2023
Since launching in 2019, KTrade has over 200,000 users and aims to reach 10 million Pakistani’s at home and abroad by 2023 to invest in stocks, bonds, commodities and mutual funds through its mobile platform. The Karachi Stock Exchange Index (KSE100) has rallied by 19% per annum over the past 20 years despite regular market cycles. The volumes have increased by 7x over the last 18 months driven by regulatory reforms and increase in retail investor participation. Retail investors now account for over 65% of overall trading volume compared to around 45% 24 months ago. KTrade aims to provide users quick and easy accessibility to this investment opportunity.

Ali Farid led the creation of KTrade. He was previously the CFO of UK listed fintech company SafeCharge (acquired by Nuvei) and a Partner at Autonomous Research (acquired by Alliance Bernstein) in London. Ali is a Rhodes Scholar and has been a top ranked Technology Analyst in Europe since 2013.

KTrade co-founder: Ali Farid wants to improve access to stock markets

Ali Farid, Co-founder of KTrade commented: “People in Pakistan have traditionally turned to gold or real estate when they consider investment options. However, as the regulatory approach, authority and credibility of the Karachi Stock Exchange has grown, more people are getting comfortable with stock market investing. This is an exciting trend but accessibility to these markets remains a hurdle for millions. KTrade will enable this mobile-first population to participate in the investment opportunity. By connecting these people to companies we can drive capital trapped in unproductive assets into the formal economy which would eventually drive a virtuous cycle of economic growth and higher investments”.

Team KTrade: disrupting how Pakistani's participate as retail investors in stock markets
Pakistan is emerging on the radar of global investors as the next Indonesia. A large, young and growing middle class and high smartphone penetration have created ideal conditions for technology led disruption. KASB’s aim is to provide retail savers access to financial education, information and financial products and to help them make better financial decisions.

“Most people in Pakistan lack access to formal financial products and their savings in real estate or gold offer inferior returns, are inefficient and have high transactional costs. We aim to democratise access to the capital markets and enable them to make stock market investments. The strong demand for KTrade shows that the market is ready for this transformation. Other regional and emerging markets have seen similar evolution led by successful fintech companies” added Ali Farid.

“Pakistan and South Asia have some of the most exciting market dynamics and demographics globally, and KTrade is well positioned to take advantage of the democratisation of finance in the region” said Jonathan Bond, Managing Partner TTB Partners who were lead investors in the funding round.

“We are delighted to be investing in the latest round of funding for KASB, and to support Ali and his first-class team on their continued journey. We have been extremely impressed by what KASB has built over the past few years, both from a tech perspective and from the educational overlay to investing, which the company has embraced. In particular, we believe that in KTrade, the company has a stellar solution to expanding stock market participation across Pakistan” added Jonathan Bond.

About KASB

Securities KASB is the leading stock brokerage in Pakistan. It is a member of the Pakistan Stock Exchange and Pakistan Mercantile Exchange and regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan. KASB’s mission is to democratise investments by giving people in Pakistan easy access to financial information, education and products. It operates KASB Varsity, an online MOOC, and KTrade, the leading stock trading application in Pakistan. KASB’s goal is to channel capital to financial markets by broadening the breadth of the capital markets. Further information visit: https://kasb.com or follow the company on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter or Instagram and through YouTube.

Global investors back fintech KTrade - the ‘Robinhood’ of Pakistan (yahoo.com)

 

[_NOBODY_]

Young man go east!

?

Also check NayaPay, They are going parallel to SadaPay with option to make business accounts as well

And the latest innovate scams

Can you please explain your reasoning behind calling NayaPay a scam?

 

[SQ8]

Nothing makes one happier than people essentially saying FU to the established Pakistani system and creating new parallel ones.

Professional Social media is abuzz with many more developments in FinTech and beyond.

 

[StormBreaker]

?



Can you please explain your reasoning behind calling NayaPay a scam?

Who’s calling NayaPay a scam ? Read my post again.

The word Scam has been used for a different post reply. What I meant was, With new tech, Newer scams are also being made.

Nothing makes one happier than people essentially saying FU to the established Pakistani system and creating new parallel ones.

Professional Social media is abuzz with many more developments in FinTech and beyond.

I am eagerly waiting for a slap on Pak customs for taking unjust bhattas.

 

[_NOBODY_]

Who’s calling NayaPay a scam ? Read my post again.

The word Scam has been used for a different post reply. What I meant was, With new tech, Newer scams are also being made.

My apologies for misunderstanding your statement. Of course there will be scams but scams will never be able to attract as much funding as these startups have.

 

[Goenitz]

Apart from achieving policy targets, government departments are extending digital payment facilities to citizens. Online Payment of utility bills, fines, and processing fees has enabled citizens to save time and travel costs.

Too many things to read one day...I just want to add few more areas.

1. Consultancy: like if you want to buy laptop/cell phones.. Then some person or rating system website can assist the buyer. Normally, we ask some friend or friend's friend to accompany us to the relevant market. It site/consultancy can expand to find a suitable machine for your business, like pizza making machine, or mushroom going set up, etc.

It can also include a youTube channel with a lot of followers. So it can provide a platform where new entrepreneur post their add or experience.
a) Advert like my two friends are very good at maintaining/selling/buying automobiles. All my friends ask them to assist. Now, their this experience should be available for rest of the people but they need a platform. So that youTube channel or firm can help to promote their expertise. So expert can physically assist the person.

b) Experience, like if somebody knows how to setup solar panels system. He wants to share his experience, but he can't as he has no online medium (low follower-ship on FB, YT, or inst). so he can hire that firm/or youTube channel to promote his experience to reach a lot of people. This assistance is limited to just online Q&A, and the person just upload new videos for consultancy.


2. Then to sell business. Like my brother wants to sell his business share. First, he can put the add at a general sell/purchase site like Gumtree in UK. Else, there should be a site/firm, from where a person can visit, evaluate, and then put a price. With good reputation of the firm, it will add more value for the seller product.. Same goes for car or fridge etc. Not suitable for small items like cycle etc as for that simple sites selling sites are enough.

3. the processing fees? If they assist in tax filing, WAPDA over billing follow up, or excise and custom duty rates, then it is a big assistance. We need a portal of lawyers/CSS people who can on minor charges, can give you the best way to import/export and run the business.

Edited:

 

[_NOBODY_]

@Goenitz For now relax, read all of this when you are fresh.

 

[Mandalorian_CA]

Still no Biometric passports and Pakistan is ready? Pakistan is not readyat all.

 

[StormBreaker]

Too many things to read one day...I just want to add few more areas.

1. Consultancy: like if you want to buy laptop/cell phones.. some person or rating system website can assist the buyer. Normally, we ask some friend or friend's friend to accompany us to the relevant market. It can expand to find a suitable machine for your business, like pizza making machine.

2. The to sell business. Like my brother wants to sell his business share. So he can put the add like a Gumtree like site. or if there is a site, who can visit, evaluate, and then put a price.. it will add more value.. Same goes for car or fridge etc. Not for small items like cycle etc as for that sites selling sites are enough.

3. the processing fees? If they assist in tax filing, WAPDA over billing follow up, or excise and custom duty rates, then it is a big assistance. We need a portal of lawyers/CSS people who can on minor charges, can give you the best way to import/export and run the business.

Your concerns have been noted. I will see what I can do on those

 

[Goenitz]

@StormBreaker @_NOBODY_
I have edited my comment to make more sense. I would be happy if somebody can implement and contribute positively to Pakistan.

 

[StormBreaker]

@StormBreaker @_NOBODY_
I have edited my comment to make more sense. I would be happy if somebody can implement and contribute positively to Pakistan.

I am currently working on a project that when launched, Will be spread like fire

 

[Goenitz]

@_NOBODY_ @StormBreaker

See, the idea is taken .. Though it is different. He is offering his platform at 60:40 ratio to movie makers to launch their films/dramas.
Whereas mine is to offer platform to day to day filed experts. It is more like Freelancer website but with more quality check induct.

 

[Bilal9]

Bangladesh has already moved into cashless transactions in large measure (using cellphones/apps), BKash being the 800 pound Gorilla. Nagad is also popular, which is a govt. service associated with the postal system.

Utility bills are all paid using these services, Garments people are also paid using these platforms. The govt. floated the Digital Bangladesh initiative, of which these are parts.

Digital Bangladesh 2021: Payment systems and fintech

Bangladesh has made immense progress in digital payments over the last decade or so. From the demand side, about 7.7 percent of the population make payments using mobile wallets. Nonetheless, there is still room for growth. There are a lot of new opportunities in the horizon.

www.thedailystar.net

bKash - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Nagad - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Nagad is part of the 'Digital Bangladesh' concept

Saif Ahmad
February 25, 2019, 12:00 AM | Print version



For the benefit of the people of the country, the government of Bangladesh is coming up with various services on its own initiative.

Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology Minister Mustafa Jabbar said that the services of Bangladesh Postal Department are 'Nagad' based on its continuity and the Prime Minister's 'Digital Bangladesh' vision.

Mustafa Jabbar said this while inaugurating the digital KYC registration process at a hotel in the capital on Saturday 23 February.

The minister further said that the present government is changing the traditional idea by providing financial freedom. This was followed by the emergence of the country's first digital financial services 'Nagad' provided by the Bangladesh Postal Department as part of the government's Digital Bangladesh initiative.

Sushant Kumar Mandal, Director General, Bangladesh Postal Department, said, “We have more than 100 years of experience in financial transaction management. We are ready to deal with any irregularities in the digital financial sector with speed and efficiency through the 96 post offices and its staff network across the country.

Digital KYC registration has been unveiled to ensure hassle-free process for customers. To complete this process, buyers will have to bring their national identity (NID) card and registered mobile phone.

Customer photo and identity card information will be matched with the Election Commission's database in real time with the help of artificial intelligence. The specific cells of the KYC application form will be filled from the identity card information in the automatic scanning process.

In this case, the process will be completed in less than 30 seconds for each customer. Managing Director of 'Nagad' Tanvir A. Mishuk said, “Nagad is working to give financial freedom to the people of the country who are out of financial inclusion.
Currently the Nagad app is only available on the Android platform. There were more than 50,000 users in the beta version of this app which is easy to use with lower footprint in megabytes."

Nagad has crossed the 40 Million users milestone this April.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nagad hits 40m users’ landmark
Daily transaction now crosses Tk. 4 Billion
Staff Correspondent
21 April, 2021 12:00 AM

Mobile financial service Nagad has crossed the milestone of 40 million users and also surpassed Tk 4 billion mark in daily transaction.

The digital financial service of the Bangladesh Postal Department has earned kudos by digitalizing the disbursement of various government allowances, stipends and financial assistance during the coronavirus pandemic, said a Nagad press release.

Digitalisation has made it easy to deliver the benefit to the beneficiaries, ensured transparency, and saved the government money, it added.

Nagad crossed the landmark of 10 million customers just 10 months after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the service on March 26, 2019.

It took six months to add next 10 million subscribers. In next seven months, the total number of users reached 30 million. It took less than two months to add the last 10 million.

40 Million users are 25% of the country's total population.

Anyone can be connected to Nagad any time by simply dialing *167# from any mobile phone, which also facilitates the account opening process.

The fastest account-opening system was rolled out in partnership with mobile phone operators, which is the first of its kind globally.

Nagad has been growing as expected from the very beginning, the company said. It crossed Tk1 billion mark in January 2020.

At one of the events after launching, Sajeeb Wazed Joy (Hasina's son - Bilal9's note), information and communication technology adviser to the Prime Minister, set a target of Tk. 2 billion in daily transaction volume within next one year.

Posts and Telecommunications Minister Mustafa Jabbar described the rapid advancement of Nagad as a successful combination of technological innovation and the introduction of customer-friendly services.

Tanvir A Mishuk, managing director and co-founder of Nagad, said, “We are working with the slogan of ‘Everything possible with Nagad’ to make all traditional services available on Nagad.”

Nagad’s lowest cash-out charge of Tk. 9.99 per thousand within Bangladesh has helped to achieve popularity in the sector.

There are currently 12,000 merchants and 500 e-commerce platforms using Nagad’s network

​

​

 

[_NOBODY_]

Cash wallets are the future of fintech

Kalbe AliPublished May 31, 2021
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Twitter Share

Opening a mobile wallet account on a smartphone or feature phone is easy even for those who are less literate.

The recent growth in IT and telecom amid Covid-19 lockdowns and social distancing has benefitted the microfinance sector not only in terms of improvements in loan disbursements but also in the opening of new venues for earnings.

The main challenge for the microfinance sector was to maintain the vast distribution system, making small loans costlier, but the outreach of telephony and internet services to unserved and under-served areas in the recent past helped resolve this problem.

The technological inclusivity has already promoted digital banking in the recent past but the significant importance related to financial transactions has been gained by JazzCash and Easypaisa, and even previous microfinance banks such as Khushaali and First Microfinance Bank have now set up small digital units to facilitate clients as well as reduce the cost of processing loans and collecting instalments.

Ghazanfar Azzam, President and CEO of Mobilink Microfinance Bank said that the majority of cash wallets are one-press solutions, which reduces cash handling of both the client and the recovery officers.

“Some of the leading digital wallets in the country include JazzCash, Easypaisa and Upasia — these are similar to internet banking but the majority of those in rural and remote areas do not have any conventional bank account,” he said adding, “these cash wallet will be the future of microfinance —fintech.”

With the increase in teledensity and acceptance of adoption of a digital lifestyle, not only the urban residents but citizens and small business owner in rural areas are drifting from a cash economy towards digital mode.

Opening a mobile wallet account on a smartphone or feature phone is easy even for those who are less literate. It works for females as it does not require extensive documentation and multiple visits to bank branches.

It has also created a huge job market in terms of extensive networks of agents across the country.

“The digital platforms play a proactive role towards increasing microfinance clientele across the country,” says Mudassar Aqil, CEO Easypaisa and Telenor Microfinance Bank.

Launched in 2009, Easypaisa was Pakistan’s first mobile banking platform, initially launched as a money transfer service only. The later entrants were Upaisa and JazzCash.

However, due to aggressive marketing and utilising the larger telecom service platform of Jazz, JazzCash overtook Easypaisa as the cellular-based platform for branchless banking service.

JazzCash Mobile Account is being used by around 30 million people, while Easypaisa has around 9m monthly active mobile wallet user-base, which is an increase of 28 per cent compared to 2019 — primarily owning to Covid-19 lockdowns and social distancing.

The increase is not only from individual or business account holders but other microfinance banks and loaning institutions like the rural support networks that too have attached their recovery and disbursements through these platforms.

“For most of 2020, travelling and human interactions were difficult; cash wallets provided a solution by reducing human interactions between loan officers and clients. It has also reduced time and other costs related to loan disbursement and instalment payments,” said Mr Azzam.

He added that microfinance was a costly and time-consuming business and that was the reason major banks only had a token presence in this segment.

“But for microfinance institutions, the average size of a loan is Rs50,000 and recovery is about 97pc because we employ up to 80pc of the workforce from local communities,” he added.

The CEO of Mobilink Microfinance Bank highlighted that with the growth of supply businesses, the number of requests for loans for motorcycles and small commercial vehicles has increased significantly and processing of cases has become easier with the help of technology.

The key product launched by JazzCash recently was to facilitate remittances earned by freelancers — mostly IT professionals as these jobs have increased manifolds due to global travel restrictions.

The product allows receiving Pak-Rupee equivalent of even $10 in the JazzCash account without any service charges — there are more than 110,000 such accounts linked with JazzCash and around Rs4 billion remitted by May 2021.

Digital support is enabling the microfinance sector to bring depth to the economy and increase penetration where people do not have access to banking services, either in remote areas or the poor segment of society in urban areas.

The microfinance system has always faced the challenge of keeping the cost of loans competitive while increasing its clientele but policymakers have also made limited efforts to promote specialised microfinance institutions and the conventional banks are regularly pressurised by the State Bank to enhance their presence in this sector. There is still space for more branchless banking platforms in the field.

“Providing financial services to the under-banked and the unbanked segments of society is a colossal task that no one can achieve alone. In the fintech space, like all other markets, new entrants can help evolve local trends and the consumers will also have a wide variety of services to choose from,” Mr Aqil said, adding that entry of new players will bring competition thus expanding digital services and developing new products.

Published in Dawn, The Business and Finance Weekly, May 31st, 2021

Cash wallets are the future of fintech - Newspaper - DAWN.COM

@Goenitz

 

[_NOBODY_]

Cash wallets are the future of fintech

Kalbe AliPublished May 31, 2021
Facebook Count
Twitter Share

Opening a mobile wallet account on a smartphone or feature phone is easy even for those who are less literate.

The recent growth in IT and telecom amid Covid-19 lockdowns and social distancing has benefitted the microfinance sector not only in terms of improvements in loan disbursements but also in the opening of new venues for earnings.

The main challenge for the microfinance sector was to maintain the vast distribution system, making small loans costlier, but the outreach of telephony and internet services to unserved and under-served areas in the recent past helped resolve this problem.

The technological inclusivity has already promoted digital banking in the recent past but the significant importance related to financial transactions has been gained by JazzCash and Easypaisa, and even previous microfinance banks such as Khushaali and First Microfinance Bank have now set up small digital units to facilitate clients as well as reduce the cost of processing loans and collecting instalments.

Ghazanfar Azzam, President and CEO of Mobilink Microfinance Bank said that the majority of cash wallets are one-press solutions, which reduces cash handling of both the client and the recovery officers.

“Some of the leading digital wallets in the country include JazzCash, Easypaisa and Upasia — these are similar to internet banking but the majority of those in rural and remote areas do not have any conventional bank account,” he said adding, “these cash wallet will be the future of microfinance —fintech.”

With the increase in teledensity and acceptance of adoption of a digital lifestyle, not only the urban residents but citizens and small business owner in rural areas are drifting from a cash economy towards digital mode.

Opening a mobile wallet account on a smartphone or feature phone is easy even for those who are less literate. It works for females as it does not require extensive documentation and multiple visits to bank branches.

It has also created a huge job market in terms of extensive networks of agents across the country.

“The digital platforms play a proactive role towards increasing microfinance clientele across the country,” says Mudassar Aqil, CEO Easypaisa and Telenor Microfinance Bank.

Launched in 2009, Easypaisa was Pakistan’s first mobile banking platform, initially launched as a money transfer service only. The later entrants were Upaisa and JazzCash.

However, due to aggressive marketing and utilising the larger telecom service platform of Jazz, JazzCash overtook Easypaisa as the cellular-based platform for branchless banking service.

JazzCash Mobile Account is being used by around 30 million people, while Easypaisa has around 9m monthly active mobile wallet user-base, which is an increase of 28 per cent compared to 2019 — primarily owning to Covid-19 lockdowns and social distancing.

The increase is not only from individual or business account holders but other microfinance banks and loaning institutions like the rural support networks that too have attached their recovery and disbursements through these platforms.

“For most of 2020, travelling and human interactions were difficult; cash wallets provided a solution by reducing human interactions between loan officers and clients. It has also reduced time and other costs related to loan disbursement and instalment payments,” said Mr Azzam.

He added that microfinance was a costly and time-consuming business and that was the reason major banks only had a token presence in this segment.

“But for microfinance institutions, the average size of a loan is Rs50,000 and recovery is about 97pc because we employ up to 80pc of the workforce from local communities,” he added.

The CEO of Mobilink Microfinance Bank highlighted that with the growth of supply businesses, the number of requests for loans for motorcycles and small commercial vehicles has increased significantly and processing of cases has become easier with the help of technology.

The key product launched by JazzCash recently was to facilitate remittances earned by freelancers — mostly IT professionals as these jobs have increased manifolds due to global travel restrictions.

The product allows receiving Pak-Rupee equivalent of even $10 in the JazzCash account without any service charges — there are more than 110,000 such accounts linked with JazzCash and around Rs4 billion remitted by May 2021.

Digital support is enabling the microfinance sector to bring depth to the economy and increase penetration where people do not have access to banking services, either in remote areas or the poor segment of society in urban areas.

The microfinance system has always faced the challenge of keeping the cost of loans competitive while increasing its clientele but policymakers have also made limited efforts to promote specialised microfinance institutions and the conventional banks are regularly pressurised by the State Bank to enhance their presence in this sector. There is still space for more branchless banking platforms in the field.

“Providing financial services to the under-banked and the unbanked segments of society is a colossal task that no one can achieve alone. In the fintech space, like all other markets, new entrants can help evolve local trends and the consumers will also have a wide variety of services to choose from,” Mr Aqil said, adding that entry of new players will bring competition thus expanding digital services and developing new products.

Published in Dawn, The Business and Finance Weekly, May 31st, 2021

@Goenitz

@Bilal9 Mobile Payment systems like JazzCash and Easypaisa are also becoming popular in Pakistan, check the post above this one.