The President of The Bank of Punjab (BOP) and the Vice Chancellor of LUMS entered into an arrangement to create a roadmap for digital innovation and customer experience. The Innovation Center aims to turn challenges into opportunities facing digital ecosystems in various sectors including payments, lending, Agri, Insurance & Education.
Mr. Zafar Masud (President & CEO – The Bank of Punjab) said, “I strongly believe in customer centricity; digital space is a powerful way to help serve our customers by giving them access to our products and services anytime anywhere. We embarked on a digital journey over one and a half years ago, setting up a digital challenger bank, unveiling the digital brand “digiBOP” and launching state of the art digital platform. Partnering with LUMS and incubation centers will act as a catalyst in achieving our digital innovation drive and there couldn’t be a better collaboration possible.”
Dr. Arshad Ahmad (VC LUMS), spoke highly of BOP’s inspirational journey in several domains and sectors and congratulated his senior team to take personal interest in this vital collaboration with LUMS. He added, “This partnership has the potential to usher digital transformation and platform learning on campus and beyond, for students to become familiar with FinTech solutions, leverage their entrepreneurial dreams and make a contribution in the growing IT and ed-tech sector in Pakistan.”
Expressing his thoughts Mr. Nauman Zaffar (Project Director at the National Incubation Center Lahore) said, “NICL’s partnership with BOP to establish this FinTech Digital Experience and Innovation Center allows a unique co-creation opportunity where industry knowledge of BOP combined with the energy, capability and drive of NICL startups, and expert advice from LUMS faculty in deep-tech and digitization to allow quick conversion of new ideas to market-ready products.”
The Digital Experience and Innovation Center will provide access to develop new ideas, concepts, and designs based on innovation and technology along with innovative solutions for existing and upcoming challenges in the industry to support growth and productivity. The Center will also provide networking opportunities to startups and investors while being a platform for mentorship and coaching for the startups.
BOP aspires to be top five commercial bank in Pakistan while keeping its core values of empathy and giving back to society at the forefront. The Bank has rapidly expanded its footprint specially in the unbanked and rural areas. Digital Transformation has been at the top of the BOP’s priorities, therefore setting forth a digital strategy to realize a fast paced catch up with the market and leapfrog to endeavor digital innovation and collaboration in the financial technology space.
LUMS, a not-for-profit University, has established an undisputed reputation for academic and research excellence and stands out as a prestigious institution in the region and around the world, contributing thousands of brilliant and innovative minds every year. LUMS aspires to achieve excellence and national and international leadership through unparalleled teaching and research, collaboration with industry & corporates and civic engagement to serve the critical needs of the society.
National Incubation Center Lahore at LUMS, aims to facilitate a new generation of Pakistani problem solvers to develop high-impact, tech-enabled, and financially inclusive solutions for the country across a number of sectors including health, education agriculture, environment, and finance. NICL is changing the landscape of digital and social entrepreneurship as a leading incubator, accelerator, and innovation hub in the nation.
