Karandaaz Pakistan has signed grant agreements with 2 FinTechs, Oraan Tech Pvt. Ltd. and Techlets Pvt. Ltd, with funding from Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and a separate one with NRSP Microfinance Bank with funding from UK’s Department for International Development (DFID). These grants will help in getting more women financially included and closing the gender gap in Pakistan’s digital financial services industry. All three partners were selected through the Karandaaz Financial Inclusion of Women Challenge run during 2019-20. Given the early stages of Pakistan’s digital financial services market and the low number of active digital accounts, there is a wide gap in determining the pricing, products, and messaging strategies that can maximize the poor and hereto unbanked population’s adoption and usage of digital financial services. Access to finance, financial literacy, account opening, usage, and activation are key issues hampering the wider adoption of digital financial services and ultimately leading to low financial inclusion in the country in general and for women in particular. Through these grants, Karandaaz aims to support initiatives of the three grantees that directly address the low uptake and active usage of digital accounts among the female population..–PR
