Briefs

 Briefs

Tameer Microfinance Bank rebranded

By our correspondent

KARACHI: Tameer Microfinance Bank Limited (TMBL) has been rebranded as Telenor Microfinance Bank a year after its complete acquisition by Norwegian multinational telecommunications company Telenor Group, a statement said on Monday. 

“We are proud of pioneering the journey of innovating financial services ecosystem in Pakistan, which started with the launch of Easypaisa – our mobile banking platform and a catalyst of future banking,” Telenor Microfinance Bank president Ali Riaz Chaudhry said as he unveiled the micro-lender’s new corporate identity at a media briefing. 

“As we continue to grow, we remain committed to empowering the underserved people of Pakistan through convenient, affordable and secure digital financial services.”  Chaudhry said the new name represents a significant foreign direct investment in Pakistan’s banking sector. 

“The management of bank remains the same and henceforth all future business activities will be conducted under the new name,” he added.  Syed Samar Hasnain, executive director, State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), said the bank, with a mobile banking platform like Easypaisa, would continue to promote financial inclusion in the country. “The SBP will continue to support initiatives aimed at providing financial services to the segments still excluded from the mainstream financial system.”

 

Faysal Bank, Ontex Pakistan collaborate

News Desk

KARACHI: Faysal Bank Limited and Ontex Pakistan Private Limited have formed an alliance for supply chain financing arrangement to facilitate distributors of Ontex across Pakistan, a statement said on Monday.

Ontex, a Belgium-based leading personal hygiene company, has joined hands with Faisal Bank to facilitate distributors of Ontex to enhance and grow business in Pakistan.

Fouad Farrukh, head of retail banking, Faysal Bank, said, “Faysal Bank is committed to deliver specialised solutions across the spectrum of trade finance and services through its supply chain financing arrangements. The depth and breadth of our trade solutions coupled with our extensive footprint put us in a unique position to service the changing needs of our clients across the country.”

Haroon Rashid, general manager, Ontex Pakistan, said, “It is a pleasure to have this alliance with one of the leading banks in Pakistan, which will go a long way in facilitating us and our business partners/distributors to exponentially grow our business in the years to come.”

 

Bank Alfalah, CIBE sign agreement

By our correspondent

KARACHI: Bank Alfalah has entered into an agreement with AlHuda Centre of Islamic Banking and Economics (CIBE) to promote Islamic finance in the country, a statement said on Monday.

The memorandum of understanding will act as a gateway to facilitate the promotion and development of Islamic banking nationally and internationally in a more structured manner, it added.

The partnership will entail collaborative advisory services, faculty exchange programme, collaborative trainings and seminars, and collaborative in-house sessions on both national and international levels.

“We are excited to be partners with the world’s leading Islamic financing institution for the development and promotion of Islamic finance and banking in Pakistan,” Ahmed Nauman Anees, head of learning and development division at Bank Alfalah, said.

 

Meezan Bank launches new product

By our correspondent

KARACHI: Meezan Bank, in partnership with MasterCard, has recently announced Pakistan’s first contactless card solution – an innovative product that has been developed to further strengthen the country’s digital payment ecosystem, a statement said on Monday.

Meezan Bank’s new contactless debit card, powered by MasterCard will enable customers to make payments by simply tapping their cards and entering their PIN upon checkout, eliminating the need to swipe their cards at the payment terminals, it added.

“Our existing debit cards will be upgraded to a more convenient and safer payment solution equipped with the latest technology, which provides more effective protection against card cloning and skimming,” said Ariful Islam, deputy chief executive officer at Meezan Bank, at the launch of the product.

“Launching the country’s first contactless payment solution in collaboration with the Meezan Bank comes as part of our commitment to actively contribute to Pakistan’s cashless ecosystem, with a sharp focus on enhancing the safety and security of transactions for our cardholders,” Aurangzaib Khan, country manager of Pakistan and Afghanistan at MasterCard, said.

 

Emaar bids $800mln for Souq.com

DUBAI: Dubai´s Emaar Malls, operator of the Middle East´s most glitzy shopping malls, has made an $800 million offer for Middle Eastern online retailer Souq.com, potentially setting up a bidding war with Amazon.com Inc.

The bid has so far not been accepted by Souq.com´s shareholders, Emaar Malls said in a bourse statement on Monday. Reuters reported last week that Amazon had agreed in principle to buy Souq.com. Amazon declined to comment, and a spokesperson for Souq.com did not respond to a request for comment.

Emaar Malls, operator of the Dubai Mall, is the retail unit of Dubai´s largest publicly traded property developer Emaar Properties.  Chairman Mohammed Alabbar has been increasingly focusing on e-commerce.

He has raised $1 billion, including from Saudi Arabia´s Public Investment Fund, to set up regional e-commerce company Noon.

 

BT fined record 42mln pounds

LONDON: Britain´s BT has been fined a record 42 million pounds ($53 million) by the regulator for failing to install high-speed lines for businesses fast enough, in an error that is likely to cost the company around 300 million pounds in compensation.

The company, which runs Britain´s major telecoms network, misused the terms of its contracts to reduce compensation payments to other providers for failing to deliver Ethernet services on time between January 2013 and December 2014, regulator Ofcom said on Monday.

BT´s Chief Executive Gavin Patterson said the company took the issue very seriously, and had put in place measures, controls and people to prevent it happening again.

 

Qatar to invest £5bln in UK

London: Qatar will invest £5 billion in Britain within five years in a boost for the post-Brexit economy, Prime Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al-Thani announced Monday. "Over the next three to five years Qatar will invest £5 billion ($6.23 billion, 5.8 billion euros) in the UK economy through various investment funds and relevant parties in Qatar -- which will constitute another addition to its already successful investments in the UK," he said at the Qatar-UK Business and Investment Forum in London. The investments will focus on energy, infrastructure, real estate and services, Sheikh Abdullah announced shortly after appearing at the investment forum, which brings together over 400 British and Qatari business leaders and senior politicians.