ISLAMABAD: As online activities, including businesses, are seeing a boom amid social distancing due to Covid-19, the banking sector and e-commerce platforms are launching advanced mobile apps to facilitate customers.

Mobilink Microfinance Bank Limited (MMBL) President and CEO Ghazanfar Azzam said the future of banking would be in the mobile phone, but it had to be least complicated and should accommodate maximum features.

He was speaking at the launch of MMBL’s ‘Dost’, a mobile-based application.

“We are committed to continuing our mission to grow, expand and strengthen our digital banking ecosystem,” he said and added that MMBL was the only digital bank with completely digital independent vertical, separated from normal banking functions.

He said digitisation was not just shifting the banking operations from manual to digital, but also to benefit the customers.

The MMBL has around 100 branches in the country and it plans to reduce their number in coming years, as the 3G and 4G outreach grows across Pakistan.

The ‘Dost App’ has the digital banking features to perform all sorts of transactions, including online purchases, and to facilitate the rural customers, the app will also contain information related to weather patterns and wholesale market rates of various commodities.

The MMBL is Pakistan’s largest digital bank with over 31 million registered users, including 14 million monthly active digital wallets.

In another development, a new e-commerce platform has been launched in the country, to provide installment plans for purchasing goods even at the branded outlets.

Launching the product recently, QisstPay CEO Jordan Olivas said that the ‘Buy Now Pay Later’ (BNPL) initiative will transform the Fintech and e-commerce landscape in Pakistan.

“BNPL lets users buy more things against the same amount since with QisstPay they are not obliged to pay for all things purchased at once. It does not charge them any interest fee either. In fact, everyone is free to buy everything, without having to pay any fee to the service,” the QisstPay CEO said.

The QisstPay will facilitate both consumers and sellers by providing interest-free payment solutions to online buyers, merchants, and business partners.

Published in Dawn, July 17th, 2021