Which are the most successful and highly funded Fin-tech startups in Pakistan?
You must’ve come across ‘’fintech’’ word many a times recently. Hold on, and let me brief you about it. Fintech is a combination of the word ‘’Finance’’ and ‘’technology’’. Thus, fintech is the catch-all term used to refer to the revolutionized finances with the aid of computer programs and technology. Fintech is regarded as a new kind of human right that everyone should enjoy because technology is the second oxygen humans are inhaling right now. . At this point, London is regarded as the capital of FINTECH startups in the world. However, FINTECH startups in Pakistan are prospering at a satisfying rate. The banking sector in Pakistan is, slowly but steadily moving toward technology based finance management.
The room for improvement in FINTECH startups in Pakistan is amazing. Fintech entrepreneurs focus on changing traditional finance management into software based techniques. The market of Pakistan is achieving new milestones because of the unfolding FINTECH startups in Pakistan.
Some of these successful and highly funded startups in Pakistan are listed below:
EASYPAISA:
Gen Z of Pakistan must have remembered the time an exciting commercial for EASYPAISA started on air in 2009 on Pakistan television. EASYPAISA is the first banking platform launched in 2009 as a simple money transferring service by the TELENOR MICROFINANCE BANK that largely served the masses of Pakistan and belonged to the underdeveloped and hard areas. EASYPAISA is a private company. Today, EASYPAISA has a groundbreaking solution for finance transferring. It now works for paying in restaurants, used to pay for the fee in certain schools, colleges, and universities. It is also used to pay the gas bills, water bills, and internet service. The only GSMA mobile money-certified service in the country, EASYPAISA, is regarded as one of the successful Fintech startups in Pakistan.
FINJA:
A modern age platform, FINJA, provides financial services to professionals, traders, and merchants founded in 2016 by Pakistanis tech veteran Qasif Shahid,Monis Rehman and Umar Munawar. The initial investor of the startup was ‘ICU ventures’.
It is a FINTECH startup in Pakistan that serves in the domain of payment lending and credit needs. This startup serves an under-banked segment of the nation and received investments from Habib bank. To lead the economy of Pakistan toward digitalization it has joined hands with its banking partners such as Meezan Bank, FINCA, Easypaisa, PMIC, and HBL. Its app is also available for android and IOS devices.
SADAPAY:
In 2009, Sadapay is a digital bank founded by an American entrepreneur Brandon Timinsky. The headquarters of this fintech startup is situated in Islamabad which is the capital of Pakistan. It has enabled international transactions possible from 45 countries. It has already got in-principle approval from the central bank of Pakistan for launching a digital wallet. This fintech startup in Pakistan has made it possible for freelancers to receive international payments. Pakistan is the fourth largest growing industry of freelancers but receiving international payments has always been their pain point. Due to its services to freelancers, SADPAY can be distinguished from other contemporary startups. SADAPAY is the only fintech startup in Pakistan that has raised $7.2 million in a seed round led by NY-based recharged capital.
KEENU:
Keenu is a payment network brand, founded by Wemsol private limited in February 2016, which makes the smooth and safe transfer of bills regardless of the presence of money in your pocket. It aims to create better retail and checkout experiences for its customers. They have made it possible by launching their app. Keenu is currently offering three of its products like Keenu Pay, Keenu NetConnect and Keenu Club. Due to its distinctive feature of boosting sales because of its high volume of customers by visualization, currently, seven thousand plus businesses are in partnership with KEENU. This fintech startup in Pakistan has gotten approval to work as an Electronic Money Institution from the state bank of Pakistan.
NAYAPAY:
With a tagline ‘’ life is too short to spend in line’’ NAYAPAY has effortlessly made it true. NAYAPAY is one of the newest launching fintech startups in Pakistan. The founder of this fintech startup is Danish Lakhani. With an e-money wallet, they offer a visa debit card to their customers for safe and quick international payments. NAYAPAY is also one of the Fintech startups in Pakistan that got an EMI license from the state bank of Pakistan. Zong, Jazz, JS bank, and Askari bank limited are some mega-companies to join hands with NAYAPAY to digitalize the economy in Pakistan.
UNIKREW:
Unikrew is one of the top Pakistani highly funded fintech companies that function with the aim of financial incorporation in Pakistan. This company was founded by a tech enthusiast Naveed Tejani in 2004. The customer-centric company has designed most of its services to help clients in managing sales digitally, digital lending, and document management. Utilizing the advanced techniques of data analysis and machine learning it has improved the existing customer services.
The two high-demand products of the company are FASTPAY and MAESTRO. FASTPAY is a digital wallet that ensures the safe transfer of money between smartphones. In addition to this, the phenomenal MAESTRO is a robot that assists the client in tackling financial challenges via chat.
Unikrew has more than seventeen partners on board due to its efficient services regarding.
Tez Financial services:
Tez is one of the non-bank finance companies founded by a female entrepreneur, Naureen Hayat, in 2016. It is one of the fintach companies in Pakistan that is designed to keep in mind the challenges faced by the regional population and make it possible to create fintech opportunities in Pakistan. Tez produced three of its main products which help the customers in receive the easy loans, insurance and investments. All the activities of Tez are controlled under a single digital app. To fulfill its mission to swift the process of finance channeling to the needy customers, Tez joined hands with other Fintech companies like Easypaisa.
Creditfix:
Credfix joined hands with Malinda and gates foundation when it was launched in Pakistan in 2016. The founders of the startup are Fawad Ahmad Somaroo and Pearse Flynn. The unique financial services of this startup revolve around helping clients with the easiest possible loans. Another distinct feature of this startup is they lend the financial bits of advice of experts to their customers and design the best possible customized plan according to the client’s needs.
Challenges for Fintech in Pakistan::
As the scope of fintech is large due to the room available for the growing and prospering fintech industry in Pakistan, there are also several obstacles to cross and a lot of challenges to face. The Data security issue, regulatory challenges with the amalgam of funding issues, and lack of mentorship and awareness among general masses are some of the graved issues currently on board.
Fintech: The future of Pakistan:
The future of fintech in Pakistan is promising despite all the challenges it has to face. With the increasing shift of smartphone use, slowly everything is getting involved in technology. Pakistan is 5th most populous country in the world, and 65% of population of Pakistan is under the age of thirty. Almost one million new smartphones come online every month in Pakistan. Thus, young population, and connectivity of a large number of smartphones ensures the fintech future in Pakistan. The launch of new startups creates job opportunities for the interested individual and substantial chances for fintech to enhance capitalization as well. As the stereotypes about women are starting dismantling due to education, thus, it will have a positive effect on the growth of fintech startups in Pakistan.
Conclusion:
The number of fintech startups in Pakistan is increasing annually but the success of these startups depend upon the overall homework or study that is done by entrepreneurs on psychological and demographic perspectives. These successful and highly funded fintech startups in Pakistan have revolutionized the economy and finance of the country and have made a dent in the conventional trade practices. The enhanced digital literacy rate among population has proved a great deal in the success of these startups.
