It’s official! Six months after closing the deal that gave FINCA a majority stake in the bank formerly known as KMBL, the Pakistan institution has been officially renamed and rebranded as FINCA Microfinance Bank Ltd. In 50 cities all over Pakistan, the signboards and fascia of every Bank location were replaced with signage carrying the distinctive FINCA “tree of abundance” logo. Monday, November 25 marked the first official day of doing business under the FINCA brand for the Pakistan subsidiary.
That morning, FINCA International president and chief executive officer Rupert Scofield and M. Mudassar Aqil, chief executive officer of FINCA Microfinance Bank Ltd., held a press conference for approximately 60 reporters to announce the official launch of FINCA in Pakistan. That evening, Messrs. Aqil and Scofield were joined by other top FINCA executives and more than 400 of Pakistan’s most prominent political, business, and opinion leaders for a celebratory dinner at Lahore’s Royal Palm Country Club. The Royal Palm event featured speeches from the FINCA leaders and from Roshaneh Zafar, who founded the bank now known as FINCA Microfinance Bank Ltd.; Mr. Ashraf Mahmood Wathra, deputy governor of the State Bank of Pakistan; Mr. Mian Mujtaba Shuja-ur-Rehman, finance minister of Punjab; and chief guest His Excellency Muhammad Sarwar, governor of Punjab.
The evening also saw the premiere of the Bank’s new 8-minute documentary, Financing Pakistan’s Future, and its television commercial airing as part of a nationwide advertising campaign kicked off the same day.
FINCA first began exploring Pakistan as a potential expansion market in April 2012. Most of the nation’s employment is in the agricultural and micro and small enterprise sector which is FINCA’s target market. Pakistan’s hardworking farmers and entrepreneurs are also seriously underserved: in this nation of more than 180 million people (the sixth most populous in the world), more than 80 percent of the population lacks access to formal financial services.
KMBL, one of Pakistan’s most prestigious microfinance banks, was looking for new investment at the same moment FINCA was looking for the right expansion opportunity. Pakistan’s immense addressable market, the favorable regulatory climate, the talent and dedication of the Pakistan team — and most of all, the perfect alignment of FINCA’s and KMBL’s shared mission for poverty alleviation — made the decision a natural one.