 granted no-objection certificates (NOCs) to five applicants for the creation of digital banks on Friday){kind=link}
KARACHI: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) granted no-objection certificates (NOCs) to five applicants for the creation of digital banks on Friday: Easy Paisa DB, Hugo Bank, KT Bank, Mashreq Bank, and Raqami.
In accordance with global best practises, the SBP unveiled a Licensing and Regulatory Framework for Digital Banks in January of last year.
“We introduced the framework as the first step toward fully-fledged digital banks, which we anticipate will offer all banking services digitally without requiring their clients to physically visit the offices.”
NOCs for digital banks: “A variety of interested parties, including commercial banks, microfinance banks, electronic money institutions, and fintech, submitted 20 applications in response to SBP’s licensing and regulatory framework for digital banks by March 31, 2022.”
Additionally, a number of international players, notably venture capital firms active in the digital banking sector, expressed a desire to enter the Pakistani market either directly or through partnerships with local businesses.
“We chose the five candidates following a thorough and exacting evaluation procedure by the framework’s requirements.”
“We evaluated the qualifications and legitimacy of applicants, along with their experience, financial stability, business plan, implementation plan, finance strategy, capital plan, outsourcing agreements, and other factors.”
“Additionally, the applicants presented their business cases to SBP.”