Organised by the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Edison Alliance, in partnership with the Virtual Remittance Gateway (VRG), a Spotlight Day on Pakistan’s Asaan Mobile Account (AMA) scheme took place on November 7, 2023.
The event, “Bridging the Financial Inclusion Gap in Pakistan,” brought together key figures from prominent government offices and private sector entities, including Fortune 500 companies, to commemorate the triumph of financial inclusion and women empowerment.
Regulated by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), the AMA initiative has been developed to provide essential financial services to underserved and unbanked populations.
Powered by VRG, this “Banking the Unbanked” scheme, in collaboration with the WEF’s Edison Alliance, is in alignment with Pakistan’s National Financial Inclusion Strategy (NFIS), which champions financial inclusion, women empowerment, and community upliftment to drive economic and social progress.
Lauding the AMA initiative, WEF’s Edison Alliance Head Claude Dyer thanked Zarrar Sehgal, Chairman Pathfinder Group and VRG, for their successful collaboration and expressed support for future initiatives.
Sehgal highlighted the importance of digital financial inclusion, emphasising AMA’s success as a testament to the technological expertise present in Pakistan.
He stressed that this homegrown product could serve as a low-cost model not only for domestic use but also for export to aid developing countries in integrating their underprivileged and unbanked populations into the financial network.
PM Anwaarul Haq Kakar recognised the AMA scheme as a key component of the NFIS and acknowledged the substantial success of the “Banking the Unbanked” initiative, which has increased women’s participation to 38%.
He highlighted the remarkable ease with which any Pakistani with a valid national ID card can now digitally open a bank account in less than two minutes, even without internet access.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 10th, 2023.
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