Warid Telecom and Bank Alfalah to start branchless banking in Pakistan

Finally, much awaited announcement from Warid Telecom that it is starting branchless banking operation in association with its own subsidiary, Bank Alfalah.

In an email sent to us, we are told that Bank Alfalah which is 6th largest bank in Pakistan having 471 branches in 163 cities across the country is providing all the backend assistance for the branchless banking along with the technical support of ‘Monet’.

According to official statement of the company, a pilot project is underway for which a formal approval has been obtained from State Bank of Pakistan.

Although, the official release states that Warid Telecom and Bank Alfalah has been working jointly for establishing a branchless banking platform that will offer a range of customized products and services tailored for its consumers, institutions, SMEs and the government, but, analysts are of belief that Warid Telecom never planned a branchless operation until past month.

An official of Warid Telecom had commented few months back that Warid Telecom did not plan to launch branchless banking no matter rest of the mobile operators have already started mobile banking.

CEO of Warid, Muneer Farouqi said in a statement that the synergistic relationship between Warid Telecom and Bank Alfalah is a natural fit and the launch of Mobile Financial Services is another step in the right direction, where we look forward to using our collective resources and experience to provide further convenience to the Pakistani consumer.

Warid Telecom further claims that it has largest postpaid subscriber base in Pakistan and more than 1.8 million customers using EDGE and GPRS services on their mobile phones. The cellular operator has been on the forefront in launching various value added services in the recent months.

In the domain of financial services, it is yet to be seen that how well Warid Telecom will perform being the last entrant.