KARACHI: Askari Bank Limited (AKBL) and Special Communications Organization (SCO) have signed an agreement for collaborative effort towards attainment of State Bank of Pakistan’s (SBP) vision to promote financial inclusion and broadening access to financial services.

The prime purpose of this strategic alliance with SCO, leading information and communication technology (ICT) services provider, is to complement SBP’s vision for Financial Inclusion and expanding the outreach of financial services in Azad Jammu & Kashmir (AJ&K) and Gilgit Baltistan (GB).

SCO will utilize its “S-Paisa Pension Account” facility through its digital financial services platform “S-Paisa” under the national service initiative with the approval of the SBP. The partnership between AKBL and SCO aims to readily disburse pension to customers by providing Over-the-Counter (OTC) facility by utilizing AKBL Digital Wallet along with the strong retail network of SCO in AJ&K and GB.

The agreement was signed by Khurshid Zafar - Chief Operating Officer AKBL and Colonel Farhan Shahid Khan - Director Commercial Affairs SCO. Atif R. Bokhari - President & CEO AKBL, Sher Afgan Khanzada – Group Head Branch Banking AKBL, Zahid Afzal - Group Head Operations AKBL, Rashid Zaman Khan – Chief Information Officer AKBL, Omer Afzal - Acting Chief Digital Officer AKBL, Imran Sher - Project Director Digital Financial Services SCO and other senior officials from both organizations were also present at the ceremony.

Speaking at the occasion, Atif R. Bokhari said, “In line with SBP’s National Financial Inclusion Strategy, this convergence of communication technology with AKBL’s digital banking wallet will aim to provide widespread accessibility to our financial services. Aligned with our vision for growth, this alliance will further assist us in fulfilling the needs of our esteemed customer base and expanding our footprint.”

Colonel Farhan Shahid Khan, while sharing his views said, “We are proud to be partners with AKBL for this initiative of digital transformation of communities. SCO is already contributing to the financial inclusion strategy of SBP and trying to support process of digitalized and documented economy. With this collaboration, we hope to empower populace to manage their routine financial transactions using the Digital Services platform being extended by SCO and AKBL.”

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023