U Bank, Pathfinder Group join hands to extend Digital Financial Services

F.P. Report

KARACHI: U Microfinance Bank (U Bank) and Pathfinder Group have entered into a strategic collaboration to utilize organizational strengths to offer digital financial services and other banking-related services to customers.

The signing ceremony took place at the Pakistan Pavilion, held on the sidelines of World Economic Forum 2023 in Davos – Switzerland, where the Memorandum of Understanding was signed by Kabeer Naqvi, President & CEO – U Microfinance Bank and Zarrar Sehgal, Chairman – Pathfinder Group, in the presence of Ikram Sehgal, Co-Chairman – Pathfinder Group, and other senior management members from both the organizations.

Speaking at the occasion, Kabeer Naqvi, President & CEO – U Microfinance Bank stated, “As a mission-driven bank with financial inclusion for citizens across all societal segments as our objective, we are glad to have entered into this collaboration with Pathfinder Group. This gives us an opportunity to expand our digital outreach and bring the unbanked population into the financial ecosystem in an efficient manner.”

Zarrar Sehgal, Chairman – Pathfinder Group, shared his views on the importance of this strategic partnership agreement. He stated that such partnerships will help economically empower the masses and have a long-lasting impact on digital financial inclusion in Pakistan. Pathfinder group looks forward to working closely with U Bank to create impact and bring inclusion.

About U Microfinance Bank
U Microfinance Bank Ltd. (U Bank) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) – e& Group (formerly known as Etisalat Company). The bank has a network of more than 250+ branches, across 210 cities and rural areas in Pakistan and offers a wide range of microfinance loans, deposit products, and branchless banking solutions. U Bank’s branchless banking offers services under the banner of UPaisa in collaboration with Ufone (Pak Telecom Mobile Limited).

Pathfinder Group
With about 15,000 employees in over 52 cities/towns in Pakistan, PATHFINDER Group includes the two largest private security companies in Pakistan, Security & Management Services (Pvt.) Ltd. and Wackenhut Pakistan (Pvt.) Ltd. The other companies in its Security Services Division are SMS Electronic Safety Services (Pvt) Ltd. (SMS ESS), and Research & Collection Services (Pvt.) Ltd. (RCS). Pathfinder Group’s Financial Services Division includes Virtual Remittance Gateway (Pvt.) Ltd. (VRG) and Facility Specialist & Multi Services (Pvt.) Ltd. (FSMS). Technology Division includes i3 Pathfinder Solutions (Pvt.) Ltd. and iPath (Pvt.) Ltd. Other related companies are also being incorporated.