easypaisa reaches new milestone

“I work night shifts and sending money home every month was not easy. Because of my work schedule, I needed to take the day off just to collect my salary cheque, take it to the bank and send money to my wife,” said Javed. “Now, through easypaisa, I can simply go to an easypaisa shop and send the money home.”

Javed believes that Telenor Pakistan’s easypaisa service has improved his quality of life. He no longer has to take a day off to do his banking and he no longer has to worry about the money securely reaching his family.

Spreading convenience to all corners of Pakistan

Telenor Pakistan set out to change the lives of Pakistanis through a more convenient way of banking. The rural population of Pakistan is largely without banking services, an issue that easypaisa is gradually remedying.

“We started with 2,200 easypaisa outlets and we now have a total of 6,500. We foresee that number increasing to 20,000 – 30,000 within the next two years. This is a significant achievement, especially considering that the total number of bank branches in Pakistan is close to 8,500,” said Roar Bjærum, Vice President of Financial Services, Telenor Pakistan.

The initial uptake of easypaisa was concentrated in urban areas, and the service was predominantly used to send money to rural villages. As time passed and trust in easypaisa was established, the usage in rural populations increased exponentially.

With easypaisa, the possibilities are endless

Telenor Pakistan believes that the easypaisa branchless banking concept is especially relevant in developing economies with lower financial sector penetration. In Pakistan, only 12 per cent of the adult population has access to formal financial services. The branchless banking model in Pakistan is bank-led, a part of Telenor Pakistan’s cooperation with Tameer Bank. This means that eventually a full range of financial services can be offered to all easypaisa users across Pakistan.

“We are just scratching the surface. There is a long road ahead and the possibilities are endless, from offering international money transfers, B2B and B2C transactions, micro-insurance and more. Our product development team is constantly exploring new services and solutions to meet all the needs of easypaisa users,” said Bjærum.

Financial empowerment for the people

The ability to pay bills, transfer money or make deposits at an easypaisa outlet or even from a mobile phone has ushered the people of Pakistan into a new era of convenience and financial empowerment.

“Easypaisa has achieved a high measure of success in a short period of time. In just six months, our fast growing network of 6,500 retailers has carried out more than one million transactions, moving funds worth Rs 2 billion or approximately NOK 150.5 million,” continued Bjærum.

“This achievement is quite encouraging, as it shows that demand for easypaisa is not only high but that people trust us when it comes to making their important financial transactions.”