With a vision statement of “financially included, economically empowered Pakistanis” Karandaaz Pakistan, through all of its four verticals i.e., Capital, Digital, Innovation and Research; is working to develop and promote an all-inclusive and a conducive financial environment and accords great importance to equal provision of financial services to women.

Businesses, large or small, are an important part of any society and fulfil various needs and functions. On one hand, they provide livelihood and employment to owners and workers, and on the other hand, they produce and distribute essential goods without which populations may not thrive.

Access to financial services has been a subject of increasing policy debate in developing countries. Financial inclusion is important as it reduces poverty and inequality, allows poor people to smooth out their consumption and invest in their futures through education and health.

Digital finance and financial inclusion offer several benefits not only to financial services users but also to digital finance providers, governments and the economy at large as well.

Conventional banking has typically focused on the 5Cs of “Credit” – character (identity), collateral (security), capacity (to repay), capital (savings, investments, or other assets), and conditions (usage of loan) – while making lending decisions.

Several governments in developing world, along with the donor community, seem keen on developing an “enabling environment” for digital financial services (DFS)[1]. DFS is seen as a pathway towards financial inclusion, which is being promoted as part of global development agenda.

Pakistani individuals, firms and government are not generating enough savings to meet the economy’s investment requirements. This lack of domestic savings results in an inherent dependence on “foreign inflows” in the form of remittances, issuance of sovereign bonds/loans and flows under Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).

Karandaaz Pakistan published a blog post on the use of prepaid cards in Pakistan. Among the needs discussed was a clear framework for the KYC requirements governing Pakistan’s prepaid market. That regulation arrived earlier this week.