Karachi: FINCA Microfinance Bank signed an agreement with 1LINK (Guarantee) Limited, the largest inter-bank payment network service provider to issue PayPak Debit Cards. PayPak is the first domestic payment scheme in Pakistan. With this collaboration, FINCA has added on to its portfolio of providing digitized products to its customers.

This partnership will allow FINCA Microfinance Bank to issue PayPak enabled debit cards to its account holders and help promote the domestic payment scheme through its nationwide branch in 94 cities. SimSim customers will also be able to order this card through the app. This signifies a major step in enabling these customers to use PayPak enabled debit cards at any of the 50,000+ POS machines nationwide. This agreement is a step forward in promoting financial digitalization in Pakistan in line with State Bank of Pakistan’s National Financial Inclusion Strategy 2020. The agreement was signed by Mr. M. Mudassar Aqil, CEO FINCA Microfinance Bank and Mr. Najeeb Agrawalla, CEO 1LINK.

Mr. M. Mudassar Aqil speaking on the occasion said, “We at FINCA are progressing day by day to materialize our vision of maximizing financial inclusion in Pakistan. We would want to stand tall with all those corporate entities that share the same thought process. We are pleased to be amongst the first few ones promoting this domestic payment scheme in the country. We also share the ambition to provide our rapidly growing SimSim customer base with the facility of these locally powered debit cards in near future. We are certainly excited to be a part of this venture.”

Mr. Najeeb Agrawalla, CEO of 1LINK commented, “We welcome FINCA’s initiative for the issuance of PayPak, which will not only enable them to deepen their product portfolio but as well as contribute towards the enhancement of the digital financial landscape of the country. This is definitely a positive step towards bringing the homegrown payment system to Pakistani market while facilitating national goals.”

About 1LINK 

1LINK (Guarantee) Limited, owned by a consortium of 11 banks, is the country’s 1st PSO/PSP and largest switch and payment system, providing a host of valuable online banking services like ATM switching, Bills Payment, Inter Bank Funds Transfer, Fraud Risk Management, Switch Dispute Resolution, Global Payment Schemes, PayPak – Domestic Payment Scheme, etc. 1LINK is continuously evolving and adding new products and services to benefit the financial industry.

About FINCA Microfinance Bank Limited

FINCA Microfinance Bank Limited is part of the FINCA Impact Finance Network, a group of 21 microfinance and financial institutions that provides socially responsible financial services and enables low-income entrepreneurs and small business owners to invest in the future.

FINCA Microfinance Bank Ltd is a licensed deposit-taking microfinance bank regulated by the State Bank of Pakistan, operating in 94 cities across the country.  FINCA Microfinance Bank Ltd offers ATM facility and access to over 11,500 ATMs nationwide through 1Link, IBFT facility to transfer funds among FINCA account holders and to any other 1Link member bank accounts, online banking, instant SMS alerts on every transaction, personalized cheque book, world class customer services and much more. Earlier in July 2017, the bank stepped into the branch-less banking domain by launching a state-of-the-art smartphone app namely SIM SIM – a mobile network agnostic app through which any mobile network customer can perform a variety of services from Utility Bill Payments to topping up his/her mobile balance, purchasing cinema and bus tickets and to top it all off can also avail numerous discounts at over 20,000+ partner merchants nationwide.