Telenor Launches Mobile Banking Service in Pakistan

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Telenor Pakistan and Tameer Microfinance Bank together have announced the launch of a mobile banking service, which is being branded as "easypaisa". Customers of the mobile network operator will be able to make bill payments and send and receive money at thousands of outlets and in addition manage their bank accounts over their mobile phones.

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 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."

Telenor Pakistan & Tameer 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.

Posted to the site on 19th October 2009