Bank Alfalah, Paymob to digitalise payment acceptance

Bank Alfalah has partnered with Paymob, a digital payments provider to activate and support merchant acquisition and integration services across Pakistan, a statement said.

The partnership will empower over 100,000 merchants across Pakistan and launch new innovative services in e-commerce acceptance for online merchants.

This partnership records Paymob’s first collaboration outside its Egyptian home market and comes as part of its expansion strategy in the Middle East, North Africa and Pakistan (MENAP) region.

Bank Alfalah President and Chief Executive Officer Atif Bajwa said that Bank Alfalah is proud to partner with Paymob in one of Pakistan’s largest Fintech partnerships.

“Our collaboration will aim to serve thousands of merchants across Pakistan and the industry-first “Tap-on-Phone” service will allow us to reach even the most remotely located merchants in Pakistan,” he added.

Paymob Chief Operating Officer Alain El-Hajj said that this is a remarkable moment for Paymob to enter the partnership with Bank Alfalah.

“We are honoured to partner with Bank Alfalah under its progressive leadership to provide reliable and seamless digital payment services for the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) across Pakistan. With this partnership we aim to contribute to the shared vision of economic growth and digitalisation of the SMEs,” he added.

Bank Alfalah’s partnership with Paymob will enable an instant onboarding feature for the first time in Pakistan using Paymob’s advanced solutions such as payment gateway integration, point-of-sale (POS) terminals and Soft POS.

The instant onboarding feature is empowered by the digital onboarding regulations recently published by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and comes as one of many positive steps the SBP has led to enable MSME merchants in order to further digitalise the ecosystem.

The market opportunity in Pakistan is significant given the range of retail outlets and SME businesses across the country’s cities. With over four million SMEs using just over 80,000 POS terminals and less than 3000 e-commerce payment gateways.

Pakistan’s GDP growth is forecast at 5 per cent to 6 per cent per annum, with the total value of e-commerce consumer goods having grown by 83 per cent in 2021 to reach $3.9 billion.

The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) report showed that 101 million people use the internet in Pakistan, with 46 per cent having access to broadband services and 85 to mobile connections.

According to the Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE), Pakistan has the potential for significant fintech growth, due to its increasing youth population, disruptive internet and smartphone penetration, consumer preferences for mobile phones and social media.