KARACHI: State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) issued no-objection-certificates (NOCs) to five applicants for establishing digital banks in the country.
The applicants include Easy Paisa DB, Hugo Bank, KT Bank, Mashreq Bank, and Raqami. A total of 20 applications were received by international players including commercial banks, microfinance banks, electronic money institutions, and fintechs.
The SBP had introduced Licensing and Regulatory Framework for Digital Banks in January last year to kickstart the process of establishing full-fledged digital banks in the country. Digital banks facilitate their customers without having them visit physical branches.
Applicants were assessed on various parameters that included fitness and propriety, experience and financial strength; business plan; implementation plan; funding and capital plan; IT and cybersecurity strategy and outsourcing arrangements, etc.
