SBP targets 50% growth in bank accounts by 2020

Will introduce Digital Bank with new and developing technologies

KARACHI: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has developed the National Financial Inclusion Strategy in an effort to enhance the outreach of basic financial services to the underserved segments and it aims to target 50% growth in bank accounts of adult population by 2020, an executive director of the central bank said.

“Branchless banking is the strongest driver of the financial inclusion objective and with 11 branchless banking operators, 20 million mobile wallets and an agent network of 350,000, over 1.3 million transactions are carried out every day,” said Syed Irfan Ali, Executive Director Banking Policy and Regulations Group, SBP.

He was speaking at the Digital Banking and Mobile Payments Summit 2017 on Wednesday.

Ali announced that the central bank was working to introduce a separate category of Digital Bank, which would incorporate new and developing technologies and take customer services in the financial services industry to the next level.

Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) Chairman Dr Syed Ismail Shah said PTA, in line with the government’s vision for digital financial inclusion, was serving more as a facilitator, helping mobile operators transform themselves into digital service providers and creating awareness among people of fully capitalising on the opportunity.

For the overall digital ecosystem development, a consultative and collaborative approach was required among different industries including health, education, agriculture and media as well as regulators, government bodies, private sector and public at large to drive similar socioeconomic benefits that emerged through the convergence of ICT and banking sector.

Shah highlighted the growth achieved in the telecommunication sector over the years with special focus on mobile broadband. According to him, close to 90% of Pakistan’s population has been covered by mobile telephony and some projects have already been launched to push it further.

The conference, organised by TerraBiz in collaboration with PwC as knowledge partners, featured speakers from across Pakistan, Europe and the US. Over 400 delegates attended the summit.

Chris Skinner, Fintech Titan by Wall Street Journal, spoke about the “internet value and the next 10 years in banking”.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 13^th, 2017.

Like Business on Facebook, follow @TribuneBiz on Twitter to stay informed and join in the conversation.