PTCL injects Rs 1 billion in U Bank

MULTAN: Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) has injected an additional equity of Rs 1 billion in U-Microfinance Bank Ltd. (U Bank), which is a wholly owned subsidiary of PTCL.

This capital injection will enable the Bank to further capitalize on the growth opportunities possible in Pakistan's microfinance sector, said a press release issued here on Tuesday.

Given the overall economic landscape, competitive environment and the opportunity to serve a considerably large under-served population, this capital injection will provide the necessary growth impetus for the Bank to leverage on and achieve its goals.

U-Bank aims to serve traditional and non-traditional customers through disruptive innovation, by building efficiencies through digitization and adding unique customers to its customer base.

On the occasion, Dr. Daniel Ritz, CEO PTCL and Chairman U-Bank said: "Given that the Bank has shown consistent robust growth over the last few years, PTCL decided to further support U Bank through strategic capital investment. We will strive to look for better opportunities to not only expand PTCL and its subsidiaries, but also support Pakistan’s economy as a whole".

He added, "This capital injection is testament to PTCL's commitment to the national cause of economically enabling underserved Pakistanis".

Currently, U-Bank serves more than 625,000 customers, where 30 per cent of them are women.

By the end of 2017, U-Bank's deposit portfolio grew from Rs 8.1 billion to Rs 11.97 billion, while the loan portfolio grew from Rs 5.5 billion to Rs 10.64 billion.

Most significantly, the number of employees increased from to 939 to 1253, where 9 per cent of the total work force comprises of women.

Expressing his views, U-Bank's Chief Operating Officer, Kabeer Naqvi said, "U-Bank stands at the forefront of fighting poverty through economic enablement of underserved Pakistanis and takes pride in delivering on the National Agenda of National Financial Inclusion Strategy 2020 by contributing to bringing 10 million unbanked customers in to banking net".

He added, "At U-Bank, we firmly believe that access to microfinance services contributes significantly towards building a more inclusive society, leading to bringing under-served population in to the banking net".

U-Bank's branchless banking offers services under the banner of UPaisa, in collaboration with Ufone. This service is offered at nearly 45,000 agent locations across Pakistan.