State Bank grants EMI Licence to NayaPay

KARACHI: Backed by the Lakson Group, NayaPay currently offers consumers a digital wallet with Visa debit cards for everyday payments.

NayaPay has earned commercial approval to operate as the first Electronic Money Institution in Pakistan, after a year-long pilot and inspection by the State Bank.

Backed by sponsors of the Lakson Group, a conglomerate in Pakistan with market leadership in the fastmoving consumer goods, media, asset management, paper and board, and fibre broadband industries, NayaPay currently offers consumers a digital wallet with Visa debit cards for everyday payments.

Built from the ground up by a team of passionate Pakistanis, NayaPay aims to address the needs of underbanked citizens, enabling them to create a wallet account within a few minutes on their smartphones; all one needs is her or his CNIC.

On sign up, users are issued a Visa virtual card right on their phone for online purchases on popular international websites, such as Amazon, AliExpress, Facebook and Netflix. NayaPay users can also order a physical Visa debit card for free to their doorstep and use it to transact with over 46 million merchants across the world.

Danish A. Lakhani, founder and CEO, said, "We are delighted to have the confidence and support of the State Bank in our mission to enable a range of new services that previously were only accessible by a small segment of Pakistani society. We believe that the future of commerce is fast, accessible and ubiquitous - NayaPay aims to be at the forefront in the digitization of Pakistan with our low cost and secure digital platform which enables payments, communications and intuitive interactions between individuals and businesses."

The commercial approval will allow full-scale launch of the NayaPay consumer app which empowers users with a digital wallet that lives on the smartphone, and gives users control of their money anytime, anywhere.