KARACHI: State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) sees e-banking as a great opportunity as fast, secure and easy way to tap a big un-banked population of the country which ultimately leads to financial inclusion in the national economy.
Speaking as chief guest at 11th E-Banking 2013 Conference and Exhibition organized by Total Communications, Deputy Governor State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Ashraf Muhamood Wathra said that stakeholders in the industry are involved actively to work on central bank agenda and continue to work closely with the regulator to penetrate in the rural and urban population of the country.
The central bank is working effectively to develop a conducive environment for banks and their consumers in bringing advancement in the banking services through alternate emerging channels with all possible means to facilitate masses as well as stakeholders of the financial industry.
Unfortunately, a large segment of the society is excluded from the documented economy due to weak financial infrastructure of the country as 56 percent of the adult population is still un-banked whereas 32 percent population does not have any access to banking services.
Emphasising the need of advance banking system, he said that the e-banking channels have enormous potential for all stakeholder to broaden their scope in the un-banked society because of technology advancement, low capital and operating cost of financial institutions and facilitation of the services, he added.
The Deputy Governor SBP said that the central bank has devised a comprehensive strategy in Branch-less Banking Regulations 2008 upon which banks and cellular phone operators are working rightly to reach the marginalized or poor segment of the society.
The growth of e-banking showed tremendous successes in the past few years due to involvement of different banks and telecom operators as 41,560 retail agents of branch-less banking are working in different parts of the country including neglected areas.
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