Over 400,000 branchless banking accounts have been opened by customers of various banks in the past 18 months, according to State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Deputy Governor Yaseen Anwar.
Addressing the 4th International Mobile Commerce Conference on Wednesday, Anwar said, “more than 10 million financial transactions took place during the same period through mobile accounts.”
Comparing the rapid spread of branchless banking to the conventional bricks-and-mortar approach, the deputy governor pointed out, “all this has developed in less than two years, while the total number of bank branches has reached 10,000 in 63 years.” He asserted that branchless banking is especially beneficial to people in low-income groups, residing in both urban and rural areas. Recalling that the central bank issued its branchless banking regulations in 2008, Anwar said, “today, we have Tameer Bank’s Easypaisa, UBL’s Omni, MCB Mobile, KASB Mobile and HBL-Ufone providing branchless banking services.” He also revealed that Dubai Islamic Bank will also launch branchless banking and is currently pilot testing the offering.
“Volume and value of overall e-banking transactions during Oct-Dec 2010 reached 56.42 million and Rs5.5 trillion, representing increases of 7.3 per cent and 17.47 per cent respectively,” said Anwar. He said e-banking has shown promise, but is yet to achieve centrepiece status of Pakistan’s cash and cheque-oriented society.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 17th, 2011.
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