PR: National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) and Karandaaz Pakistan have joined hands to create a more robust digital financial ecosystem in Pakistan through implementation of an Application Programming Interface (API) management platform for NBP. This technology platform implementation is focused particularly on digitizing Government to Person (G2P) and Person to Government (P2G) transactions.

Mr. Azfar Jamal, Executive Vice President and Head of Digital Banking and Payment Services from NBP highlighted National Bank’s commitment to contribute towards the long term goal of greater financial inclusion in Pakistan through leveraging the expertise of banking and telecommunication sectors. He also stressed on the need to bridge the urban-rural service divide and extending financial outreach to every citizen efficiently and conveniently. He thanked Karandaaz Pakistan for joining hands with NBP to work towards achieving this goal.

Mr. Rehan Akhtar, Director Karandaaz Digital highlighted the benefits of digitization. ‘The potential of G2P payments to accelerate financial inclusion in the short to medium term is tremendous. By disbursing payments digitally to beneficiaries, including the marginalized and vulnerable, governments can enable the creation of a digital financial ecosystem with a wide range of financial products that can directly address the barriers to financial inclusion,” he said. While speaking about the partnership, he appreciated NBP’s vision, “Digitization of such payments presents great opportunity to increase recipients’ access to financial services and provide them with a financial transaction history.”

National Bank of Pakistan is one of the largest commercial bank operating in Pakistan. The bank has developed a wide range of consumer products, to enhance business and cater to the different segments of society. The bank has also implemented special credit schemes like small finance for agriculture, business and industries, Qarz-e-Hasna loans to students, and self-employment scheme for unemployed persons.

Karandaaz Pakistan Karandaaz Pakistan has financial and institutional support from leading international development finance institutions; principally the United Kingdom Department for International Development (DFID) and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Karandaaz Digital program provides technical assistance and services to promote financial inclusion through technology-enabled solutions. Karnadaaz Digital is working with national regulators, public agencies, private corporations, and technology entrepreneurs to strengthen national payments infrastructure, digitizing government to people payments, corporate supply chains, and supporting FinTech innovation in Pakistan.