Karachi: State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has established a Consultative Group on Branchless Banking to foster market developmentā under the chairmanship of Muhammad Ashraf Khan, Executive Director, Development Finance Group of SBP.
The Group is comprised of key stakeholders such as Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA), banks, Microfinance banks (MFBs), Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) and Technology Solution Providers.
The Group provides a common platform for branchless banking ecosystem developers and an opportunity to develop collective policy recommendations on critical issues.
The promotion of branchless banking is an integral component of the SBPās financial inclusion strategy which aims to stimulate inclusive growth in the country by reaching out to the financially under-served population of Pakistan.
Branchless Banking continue to show a rising trend Branchless Banking (BB) continued to show a rising trend in the third quarter (January-March 2012) of the current fiscal year (2011-12) during which BB transactions surged by 23 percent to 25.3 million as compared with 20.6 million in the preceding quarter.
The value of these transactions was recorded at Rs 85.092 billion, showing a growth of 7 percent as compared with Rs 79.410 billion in the quarter ended on December 31, 2011.
According to SBPās āBranchless Banking Newsletterā, the average daily BB transactions increased to 280,798 in the third quarter showing a growth of 23 percent as compared to 228,858 transactions in the previous quarter. BB deposits grew by 18 percent to Rs 594 million in Jan-March 2012 quarter as compared with Rs 503 million in the preceding quarter.
The total number of Branchless Banking agents increased by 19 percent to 26,792 in January-March FY12 quarter as compared with 22,512 in the quarter ended on December 31, 2011.
Similarly, the total number of BB accounts surged by 14 percent to surpass one million mark (1,059,519) in the quarter under-review as compared with 929,184 in the previous quarter.
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