SBP Issues NOCs to five applicants For Setting Up Digital Banks

According to the latest reports, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has recently issued no-objection certificates (NOCs) to five applicants for establishing digital banks in the country. Let’s dig into it.

NOCs Issued To These 5 Applicants For Setting Up Digital Banks

The five applicants who have been issued NOCs for establishing digital banks are mentioned down below:

I) Easy Paisa DB (Telenor Pakistan B.V & Ali Pay Holding Ltd.)

II) Hugo Bank (Getz Bros & Co., Atlas Consolidated Pte. Ltd., and M & P Pakistan Pvt. Ltd.)

III) KT Bank (Kuda Technologies Ltd., Fatima Fertilizer Ltd., and City School Pvt. Ltd.)

IV) Mashreq Bank (Mashreq Bank UAE)

V) Raqami (Kuwait Investment Authority through – PKIC and Enertech Holding Co.)

According to previous reports, SBP also announced a license and regulatory framework for digital banks in January 2022. SBP stated:

“The Framework was the first step towards introducing full-fledged digital banks in the country. Digital banks are required to provide all the banking services through digital means without any need for their customers to visit the bank branches physically”

On March 31, 2022, the central bank even received twenty (20) applications in response to SBP’s licensing and regulatory framework for digital banks. The response came from a wide range of interested parties that included commercial banks, microfinance banks, electronic money institutions, and even Fintech companies. In addition to that, a number of foreign participants that included venture capital firms working in the digital banking field also expressed a desire to enter the Pakistani market. They either wanted to make their way to the market directly or through partnerships with local businesses. As a result, five applications were selected after a thorough and exacting evaluation procedure in accordance with the Framework’s requirements.

Reports claim that the Applicants were assessed on different parameters including fitness and propriety, experience, financial strength, business plan, implementation plan, funding, capital plan, IT and cybersecurity strategy, and outsourcing arrangements. Moreover, all the applicants were given the opportunity to present their business cases to SBP.

The SBP even stated that it expects after the commencement of their operations, the digital banks will help to promote financial inclusion by providing affordable/cost-effective digital financial services including credit access to unserved and underserved segments of society.

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