Cellular companies can now transfer up to Rs50,000

ISLAMABAD: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has granted approval to branchless banking of cellular companies, which can jack up the limit of transferred amount from Rs15,000 to Rs50,000 per transaction in order to ensure financial inclusion at an accelerated pace.

“Under the Financial Inclusion Programme (FIP), the branchless banking initiatives of cellular companies are now contributing around 2 to 3 percent of GDP, equivalent to Rs700 billion, through their financial services per annum. We intend to scale up our services,” a top manager of a cellular company told a couple of reporters at his office on Tuesday.

He said that they had already launched biometric cash withdrawal facility for 1.1 million beneficiaries’ of the Benazir Income Support Programme in a phased manner. The pilot project, he said, had kick-started, which would be jacked up to 225,000 beneficiaries of BISP stipend by next month. “The coverage of biometric cash withdrawal for BISP amount will be extended up to 1.1 million in the next six month period, which will help women empowerment under the BISP programme,” he added.

He said that they processed $6 million transaction for e-commerce as they possessed 10 percent marketshare out of the total e-payment volume standing at $60 million in Pakistan at the moment. This sector, he said, possessed huge potential in Pakistan, which was expected to go up to $2 billion by 2018.

He said that under the financial inclusion programme, the World Bank and his company would bring 100 million people into the banking sector.He said that they took the initiative of micro health and car insurance schemes. After depositing Rs900, the customers could get health insurance facility up to Rs50,000 on panel hospitals in Karachi and facility of cash amount of Rs50,000 in southern and northern parts of the country. He said that currently about 250,000 customers had availed the health insurance scheme.

The car insurance scheme was recently launched under which 10-year-old cars could get this facility with coverage of electrical and mechanical breakdown of the car with premium rate of 2.5 percent of the total value of the car.