The State Bank of Pakistan’s latest initiative to introduce a licensing and regulatory framework to set up digital banks is a good step to promote digital financial services in Pakistan, WealthPK reported on Wednesday quoting economic experts.
“If implemented in letter and spirit, the measure can significantly improve financial inclusion in Pakistan,” Dr Sajid Amin Javed, a senior research fellow at the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI), told WealthPK while commenting on the central bank’s initiative.
Talking to WealthPK, he suggested that digital banks should focus on financial instruments and services for the financially excluded and underserved populations and businesses such as micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the informal sector.
The SBP has set the stage for the dawn of a new era for banking in Pakistan with the introduction of a licensing and regulatory framework for digital banks in line with the international best practices, the central bank said in a statement following launch of the initiative.
A digital bank is defined as a bank that offers all kinds of financial products and services primarily through digital platforms or electronic channels instead of physical branches.
The central bank stated that this is the first step towards introducing a completely digital bank that will provide all the banking services, from account opening to deposit and lending, through digital means, and the customers will not need to visit any bank branch physically, WealthPK reported.
