ISLAMABAD: State Bank of Pakistan with the support of Government of Pakistan has introduced an incentive scheme for promotion of home remittances through mobile wallets. Beneficiaries receive airtime of Rs2/ against each USD received as home remittances in their mobile wallets.
According to report issued State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), the cost of airtime would all be borne by the Government of Pakistan. This product would help to increase domestic outreach through cash withdrawal facility through extensive network of branchless banking operators and ATMs.
It is expected that this product would accelerate the pace of financial inclusion as well. Money Service Business (MSB) in Malaysia and Telenor Easypaisa, Pakistan will facilitate cross border remittance service through e-wallet platforms which is based on block chain technology developed by Alipay, a subsidiary of ANT Financial.
This block-chain based wallet-to-wallet remittance service provides instant and secure way for Pakistani migrants to transfer money from Malaysia to Pakistan.
Moreover, in order to encourage domestic banks, micro-finance banks, exchange companies providing home remittance disbursement services, a performance based scheme has been developed to enhance their marketing, promotional and awareness efforts for home remittance products and services. The Government of Pakistan (GOP) shall incentivize financial institutions by reimbursing marketing expenses in the form of Rs1 per each incremental USD mobilized as home remittances in Fiscal Year 2019.
