A major breakthrough in the microfinance industry of Pakistan was witnessed on October 2, 2007 when The First MicroFinanceBank Ltd and Pakistan Post reached an agreement to work together for poverty alleviation.
This unique public-private partnership between The First MicroFinanceBank and Pakistan Post will allow rapid sealing up of quality microfinance services to the very poor populations residing in rural and urban Pakistan. Following this agreement, the social motive of The First MicroFinanceBank will be merged with Pakistan Post's commitment to eliminate distances thereby combining the 25 years of microfinance experience of The First MicroFinanceBank Ltd through AKRSP with Pakistan's most well spread distribution network that will benefit the poor living in remotest rural areas of Pakistan.
This unique public-private partnership marks a major breakthrough in the microfinance sector by addressing the key issue of microfinance inaccessibility to the poor. Under the Agreement, The First MicroFinanceBank Ltd will be able to provide financial services to the poor and vulnerable segments located not only in the remote rural areas but also the urban areas, through 4,000 sub-offices of Pakistan Post across the country while leveraging its own branch network of 82 branches by year-end.
It is expected that such a wide network would facilitate disbursement of Rs 15 billion to millions of clients over a period of 3 to 5 years. This partnership will take The First MicroFinanceBank Ltd closer to its clientele, while Pakistan Post will benefit from optimum utilisation and development of its resources, including human capital.
Present at the signing ceremony were Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, State Bank of Pakistan Governor, Federal Minister of Communication, and other important persons from government institutions along with other prominent dignitaries from the multilateral development organisations and notable personalities from the corporate sector.
The First MicroFinanceBank Ltd operates a unique banking model focusing on providing financial services to the very poor to address their needs, while also ensuring financial sustainability of the institution. Therefore, The First MicroFinanceBank Ltd operates not to maximise profitability but to cover its inflation adjusted costs.
It is worth mentioning that The First MicroPinariceBank, the first private sector microfinance bank formed under the Microfinance Institution's Ordinance 2001 and licensed and regulated by the SBP, has expanded at an exponential rate in the last two year. Currently, the Bank has 65 nation-wide, fully automated branches providing a range of financial services to more than 150,400 poor clients. It is the only microfinance bank in Pakistan which has received the COAF's Financial Transparency Award for 2005 & 2006, in two consecutive years.-PR
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