Paymob and PAFLA Sign MOU to Fuel Growth in Pakistan’s Freelance Market.

Paymob, the leading omni-channel payments gateway, and financial technology enabler in MENAP  and Pakistan Freelancers Association (PAFLA) signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to facilitate payments acceptance for freelancers in Pakistan.   

The MOU will allow freelancers to seamlessly accept payments in a secure ecosystem via the Paymob payments gateway. Gaining access to a variety of digital payments methods enables freelancers in Pakistan to offer their services to a global marketplace. 

Pakistan is one of the world’s fastest growing freelance markets. In 2021 it reported a 47% increase in growth over the previous year and was ranked the largest freelance market in Asia. Spurred by the global gig economy, the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and a young, digital native population, limitations in payments acceptance have been a hindrance to growth. The partnership between Paymob and PAFLA will bridge that gap. 

Fawad Abdul Kader, Paymob’s Country Manager in Pakistan shared his views by saying; “Pakistan has constantly been the fourth fastest growing freelancing market in the world with the revenue summed up to $500,000, it is opening its employment avenues for the young professionals”.

He further said; “our partnership creates opportunities for the freelance community to thrive and gain access to the latest payment technologies in Pakistan via this gateway”.  

PAFLA, led by Tufail Ahmed Khan, was founded as a non-profit organization to empower and encourage Pakistani freelancers through mentoring, providing opportunities, collaborating with government, industry, and academia. It draws out a platform along with support groups to help them grow their career and overcome challenges.  

Ibrahim Amin, Co-Founder of PAFLA said; “we are honored to partner with Paymob which has pioneered an innovative fin-tech solution for the freelancers in Pakistan. This easy digital payment method will enable the freelancer to thrive more in their field. It is a great opportunity for freelancers to encounter innovation and enhance their skills”.  

About Paymob: Paymob is the leading financial services enabler in the Middle East, North Africa and Pakistan (MENAP), delivering the latest financial technologies to customers in the region. Its omni-channel gateway offers more than 30 payment methods and empowers over 120,000 SME merchants to manage and scale their businesses by giving them access to financial services not readily available in emerging markets. 

Headquartered in Cairo, Egypt, Paymob is the largest payments facilitator in North Africa and employs 1,100 team members across MENAP. The company launched operations in Pakistan in 2021.  Paymob was founded in 2015 by Islam Shawky, Alain El Hajj and Mostafa Menessy.  Visit www.paymob.com for more information.

Paymob and NIFT sign agreement to securely enable digital payments in Pakistan.

Paymob, the leading omni-channel financial services platform in the MENAP region, signed an agreement with National Institutional Facilitation Technologies (NIFT) to facilitate digital payments in Pakistan and to secure payment transfers. Under the agreement, Paymob will enable digital payments for their merchants using the NIFT ePay payment platform which supports account, wallet, and card-based payments.

Paymob’s payment infrastructure enables SMEs to accept digital payments online and in-store whilst providing them better access to financial services. As an API integrator, Paymob’s gateway sits on merchants’ websites to facilitate payment capture. In addition to conventional bank cards, Paymob merchants will have access to mobile wallets, QR payments, bank card installment plans, and Buy-Now Pay-Later (BNPL) options all of which serve to drive an increased volume of transactions and revenue.

Paymob plans to extend its Tap-on-Phone payment acceptance service to the Pakistan market. The company will also launch cards to enable B2B transactions for its merchants and build tools for merchants to better manage and grow their business.

NIFT was established in 1995 as a joint venture between six major Pakistani banks and entrepreneurs from the private sector. It is the leading Payment System Operator (PSO) in Pakistan for cheque clearing and is the country’s foremost Digital Payment Gateway, providing an electronic platform for clearing, processing, and switching electronic transactions in Pakistan under the brand name NIFT ePay.

Haidar Wahab, CEO of NIFT commented; “NIFT continues to play an important and proactive role in streamlining Pakistan’s payment system. As promoters of financial technology, NIFT is committed to delivering an efficient, secured, and convenient digital payment system in which our economic growth can further thrive. This new partnership with Paymob opens a range of exciting new possibilities for Pakistan’s payment infrastructure and puts it at the cutting edge of innovation in this space”.

Fawad Abdul Kader, Country Manager of Paymob in Pakistan mentioned; “we are proud to partner with NIFT ePay, which will serve to drive ecommerce by making a variety of payment options available to merchants all across Pakistan. SMEs are the engines of growth in any economy and this partnership with NIFT ePay will serve to fuel that growth and drive revenue in today’s digital economy”.

About Paymob: Paymob is a MENA focused technology company that builds infrastructure for the digital economy. As a financial services technology enabler empowering the masses with better access to finance, Paymob provides various technology products for enabling businesses to accept payments, make payments, manage their finances, and grow their business.

Paymob is the largest payment aggregator in Egypt, processing payments in several countries around the globe. Paymob drives economic growth while empowering merchants with its various products offerings to benefit from the powers of the digital economy and the financial inclusion movement.

It was founded in 2015 by Islam Shawky, Alain El Hajj, and Mostafa Menessy and is headquartered in Cairo, Egypt. Visit  www.paymob.com for more information

About NIFT ePay: NIFT – National Institutional Facilitation Technologies (Pvt.) Limited was incorporated in September 1995, as a joint venture between consortium of six major Pakistani banks and entrepreneurs from the private sector.

NIFT has been licensed and nominated by SBP as a PSO and PSP under the Rules for Payment System Operator (PSO) and Payment Service Provider (PSP) issued by State Bank of Pakistan under the PS&EFT Act 2007, to provide an electronic platform for clearing, processing, routing and switching of electronic transactions.

NIFT is certified ISO 9001-2000 for Clearing Services and ISO 27001 for Information Security Services. Visit www.nift.pk for more information.

Fawad Abdul Kader announced as the Country Manager of Paymob Pakistan.

Paymob, a leading Egyptian payment solutions facilitator announces the appointment of Mr. Fawad Abdul Kader as the Country Head for their Pakistan operations, effective April 2022. 

Mr. Kader is a fin-tech project specialist with extensive in-depth knowledge and implementation experience in the financial services industry. He has played a key strategic role in the development and deployment of financial services solutions for various financial institutions across Pakistan.

Mr. Omar El-Gammal, Senior Vice President Global Business Development Paymob (Egypt) remarked, “Paymob is very excited to have Fawad lead the operations in Pakistan. His diverse experience in fin-tech project implementation in the country is key to unlocking the right strategy for market expansion”.

More recently, Mr. Kader served as the Head of Digital Financial Services at NIFT and helped establish an aggregated domestic payment gateway under the brand name NIFT ePay. During this time, he spearheaded the introduction of an aggregated account-based direct debit service along with card and wallet-based payments for online businesses. Mr. Kader has previously served as a consultant for National Savings Digitization Project with Alvarez & Marsal (A&M) for a project funded by Karandaaz. He has also served as a Business Unit Head for numerous premier banking institutions in Pakistan, including Bank Alfalah and MCB. Throughout his professional journey, he has been a key player in developing and executing strategies aimed at facilitating the fin-tech and digital payment eco-system in Pakistan. 

Mr. Kader joined Paymob in April of 2022 as the Country Manager of Paymob Pakistan. At the announcement, he stated, “as an advocate and facilitator of fin-tech infrastructure networks, I am very excited to start this new journey at Paymob Pakistan. Their omni-channel payment system, diverse product suite, and aggressive market strategy coupled with their ties in the international market and their mission to facilitate merchants everywhere are key elements of their success.  I look forward to utilizing Paymob’s successful experience to empower 100,000 merchants by 2024 all across Pakistan working closely with my team”.

Paymob is the leading MENAP digital payments enabler that builds payments infrastructure technologies empowering businesses and merchants of all sizes with access to financial services. Paymob is bridging the financial inclusion gap in the region by enabling businesses to benefit from the power of its unified commerce solution.

Paymob chose to invest in the Pakistani market as it sees a significant opportunity for increasing its internet GDP. Pakistan has a population of over 220 million, with more than 5 million retail outlets and MSME businesses across its cities that use just over 80,000 POS terminals, and less than 3,000 e-commerce gateways, meaning it is “perfectly suited” to Paymob’s ability to bridge the digital financial gap and meets the company’s criteria and strategy to expand further across MENAP, and globally.

Paymob aims to create a positive impact on the Pakistani ecosystem by empowering MSMEs across all Pakistani cities with online and face to face digital financial solutions to manage and grow their businesses. Paymob’s advanced technology offers instant on boarding features for the first time in Pakistan using products such as Payment Gateways, POS, and Soft POS.