We were expecting one of the leading operators to come up with second mobile banking or rather branchless banking service after Telenor’s EasyPaisa but to our surprise it is the youngest cellular operator ZONG which has just crossed Warid Telecom to have become number 4th operator subscriber wise.
According to our sources, ZONG is ready for launching branchless banking (tomorrow) in Pakistan in association with its banking partner Askari Bank. In this regard, a Pilot Project has been started that is required under the rules and regulations drafted by State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) that states a company must engage into a Pilot Project for two months before starting the branchless banking services commercially.
Although, Pilot Project does not offer complete services but sources reveal that ZONG’s branchless banking service will offer majority of services that customers are enjoying at the moment. Like EasyPaisa, ZONG’s branchless account can opened at its Franchise, Service Center and Top Shops.
There are news about other cellular operators working on the branchless banking mechanism such as Mobilink through its subsidiary Waseela MicroFinance Bank and Ufone through its own entity Rozgar MicroFinance Bank but we are not sure when both the cellular operators plan to launch their respective mobile banking service.
Unlike rest of the cellular operators, ZONG’s branchless banking setup seems to be a little different as ZONG does not own any bank rather its branchless banking service is a result of a partnership with a regular commercial bank (Askari Bank in this case). Even Telenor operates its brand EasyPaisa through its own subsidiary Tameer MicroFinance Bank.
Analyst believe that the branchless banking service will not be different than rest of the services because the whole activity will be governed by branchless banking rules formed by SBP.
