SBP Has Received 20 Applications for Digital Banking License
SBP to award five licenses in first phase for digital banking Due diligence of banks have been commence and soon license will be given.
State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has so far received 20 applications for digital banking against the announced five licenses to be awarded soon to the successful institutions, as banks are at the crux of the second digital revolution in the country.
“Due diligence (of banks and financial institutions applied for digital-banking license) is underway and we will be hopefully issuing licenses pretty soon,” said Syed Irfan Ali, who is Managing Director of SBP subsidiary Deposit Protection Corporation (DPC).
The central bank has decided to issue only five licenses in the beginning to kick-start the journey in digital banking, he said while speaking at the 15th international conference on ‘Mobile Commerce 2022’ organized by Total Communications in Karachi on Wednesday.
Read also
Reporting on Conflict, a Two-day Conference at CEJ-IBA Starts Saturday
The financial institutions, that have applied for a digital banking license, are including the top five banks operating in the country. “20 digital-banking applications…where do we end?” Ali questioned and answered in the same breath “There is no end. This is just the beginning (of digital banking in Pakistan).”
“Maybe the QR code, thumb impression, or hands in the air (to conduct financial transactions) may be the next level of future banking,” he said.
He hoped the forthcoming digital banks may offer banking services to unbanked people and businesses in remote areas including Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, bordering areas, Thatta, Thar, Cholistan, Gilgit, Hunza, and Skardu.
“They are not out of Pakistan, but the party of the country,” he said while adding bankers at the conference. Former Prime Minister Imran Khan wanted to connect non-resident Pakistanis with banks operating in the country.
