Allied Bank (ABL) has taken another step forward towards enhancing its footprint of Digital Banking by tapping the unbanked segments of the market to promote financial inclusion digitally. An agreement was signed between ABL, Karandaaz Pakistan and Techlogix Mobility in the Innovation lab located at ABL Head Office in Lahore. The agreement was signed by Mr. Sohail Aziz – Chief, Digital Banking of ABL, Mr. Waqas ul Hasan – CEO Karandaaz and Mr. Salman Akhtar – who is CO-CEO of Techlogix Mobility.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Sohail Aziz mentioned, “We take pride to be part of Innovation Challenge Fund of Karandaaz and are geared-up to play our part in financial inclusion of the SME sector. With this agreement we have entered into a new era of digital lending where merchants can get instant financing of their orders and that too digitally through our mobile app myABL using data analytics”.
Mr. Waqas ul Hasan shared that Karandaaz is optimistic that the partnership with ABL and Techlogix Mobility would result in an innovative lending model that will address the capital needs of the underserved SME sector. Efficient capital allocation will create much needed jobs and subsequently contribute to the economic growth of Pakistan.
According to Salman Akhtar, Co-CEO of Techlogix Mobility, “In Pakistan, fewer than 5% of SMEs receive any form of formal sector financing. To solve this problem, we developed a unique data-driven digital solution to help ABL extend credit to Merchants and Small Distributors in meeting their order financing requirements. We are very excited about this collaboration and grateful to Karandaaz to catalyze and stimulate SME growth.”
About Allied Bank Ltd. (ABL):
Allied Bank is one of the largest Bank in Pakistan with branch network comprising of 1400+ branches and 1590+ ATMs with a customer base of above 4 million, operating in the Corporate, Retail and Consumer Banking services. Allied Bank has been focused to provide digital financial services to its retail and business customers specially to process their payments digitally.
About Karandaaz Pakistan:
Karandaaz Pakistan is a not-for-profit special purpose vehicle set up under Section 42 in August 2014. Karandaaz is the implementation partner of the Enterprise and Asset Growth Programme (EAGR) of UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO). Karandaaz promotes access to finance for micro, small and medium-sized businesses through a double bottom line investment platform and financial inclusion for individuals by employing technology enabled solutions.
About Techlogix Mobility:
Techlogix Mobility, a subsidiary of Techlogix, is a technology solution company focused on the sales distribution, automation and digital lending.