A merger of finance and technology in Pakistan

1. Press Release
Telenor Pakistan & Tameer Microfinance Bank launch ‘easypaisa’
Islamabad, 15th October 2009. Telenor Pakistan and Tameer Microfinance Bank together have
announced the launch of easypaisa, a uniquely convenient and safe way for everyone to carry out financial
transactions. easypaisa users will have the freedom to make bill payments and send and receive money at
thousands of outlets and in addition manage their bank accounts over their mobile phones. easypaisa
combines the best from the financial and mobile sectors, offering the first branchless banking solution of its
kind in Pakistan and neighboring countries.
Presiding over the easypaisa launch event, Governor State Bank of Pakistan, Syed Salim Raza in his
address emphasized government’s focus on promoting financial access in the country. He said, “Helping
people to get access to financial services is central to improving their livelihood. Branchless banking has
been used internationally as a successful tool to reach customers who cannot be served by conventional
branch-based financial services. That is why State Bank has been very supportive of innovative synergies in
this field, a prime example of which is easypaisa by Tameer Microfinance Bank and Telenor Pakistan.”
Director Telecom, Ministry of Information Technology & Telecommunications, Mudassar Hussain
highlighted the critical role mobile industry has to play in providing financial access to the un-banked. He
said, “The total life of mobile industry in Pakistan is less than 20 years while formal banking channels have
been around for some 60 years. However, interestingly, in comparison to more than 90 million mobile
subscriptions, the number of bank accounts is less than 30 million. The Ministry is of the view that this
presents an immense opportunity for the mobile industry to add value to the financial sector and serve the
un-banked. We have been actively supporting the consultation process and hope that easypaisa becomes a
resounding success story for the industry and country.”
Chief Executive Officer, Telenor Pakistan, Jon Eddy Abdullah called easypaisa a revolutionary solution.
He said, “easypaisa will allow users across the board to access convenient and secure financial services. In
an environment where only 12% of adult population is formally served with financial services, easypaisa
will promise tremendous financial empowerment. It will provide opportunity for everyone to utilize well-
priced, secure, and efficient financial services at the corner store without opening a bank account, or
through ones own handset with a Tameer Microfinance Bank account depending on the transaction type.
The inclusion into the general economy will create opportunities to save, pay for services more efficiently
without the loss of productivity, and to utilize more advanced financial instruments in the future.
Chief Executive Officer, Tameer Microfinance Bank, Nadeem Hussain talked about how branchless
banking can help the low-income customer segment currently served by Tameer Microfinance Bank.
“Tameer has been a pioneer in scalable retail micro finance operations with initial focus on lending. Tameer
has always embraced new technologies to lower operating costs. Mobile phones – along with other
technologies and banking agents are beginning to offer the opportunity of giving financial services to the
many millions of people and low cost who have never had a bank account.”
Telenor Pakistan & Tameer Microfinance Bank’s easypaisa portfolio, initially launched with Bill Payment
solution, is scheduled to come up with services such as money transfer, mobile wallet accounts, cash
deposits and withdrawal facilities in near future. The services are for everyone offering innovation,
freedom, security and convenience.