KARACHI: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Friday revoked the in-principle and pilot operation approvals granted to TAG Innovation Pvt Ltd to operate as an Electronic Money Institution (EMI) with immediate effect as per the applicable laws.

“The SBP has taken this decision to protect the interest of public at large after identifying violation of its regulatory requirements and other concerns during the pilot operations of the company,” said the SBP on Friday.

On Aug 4, the central bank advised TAG Innovation, which was in pilot stage of EMI licencing process, to refund all outstanding funds to its wallet holders immediately but no later than Aug 19. This action was taken after identification of violations of SBP’s regulatory requ­i­rements and other concerns during the pilot operations.

The EMIs are entities that offer innovative, user-friendly and cost effective low value digital payment instruments like wallets, prepaid cards, and contactless payment instruments.

“TAG has been advised to close all customers’ wallets and remove their application from Google’s Play Store and Apple’s App Store and any other platform with immediate effect,” said the SBP.

Published in Dawn, October 8th, 2022