‘State Bank, ministry developing national policy on ecommerce’

KARACHI: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and the ministry of commerce are developing a national policy on ecommerce to attract foreign investment for establishing a desired digital market in the country, a statement said on Thursday.

"{The} Policy…shall support and work towards building desired ecosystem for ecommerce market and also to encourage local trade and foreign investments in the country," Ashraf Mahmood Wathra, governor, State Bank of Pakistan, said at the 10th Jazzcash International Mobile Conference in Pakistan.

The one-day conference was organised by Total Communications with the support of State Bank of Pakistan and Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA). The governor said he has been part of the conference on regular basis for the last four years, as "participating at this conference or at IMF and World Bank remains equal for me."

He said the central bank was aware that the high cost on e-payment was "due to risk associated with online payments, but we are also mindful that new mechanism for proactive fraud detection are being developed to safeguard the merchants, consumers and their banks from losses”.

Keeping in view the development, he urged upon banks and payment schemes to rationalise the cost of transactions on epayment to further boost mobile and ecommerce in Pakistan.

He said the central bank has allowed the entry of non-banks - Payment System Operators and Service Providers (PSO/PSPs) - into the domain of payment services through intensive regulations in 2014.

However, "their effectiveness remains yet to be seen," he said. He noted that the number of m-wallet accounts stood at more than 16 million in the country. However, majority of these wallets were still inactive.

However, the branchless banking industry has seen acceleration, and basic financial services can now be accessed in the remotest parts of the country through an agent network of around 350,000, he added.

"A total of 110 million transactions worth around Rs520 billion were carried out during quarter of July-September 2016," Wathra said.

Dr Syed Ismail Shah, chairman, Pakistan Telecommunication Authority, said in a video message that the regulator would soon launch more services in Pakistan like Uber and Careem, the apps to call cabs at your door.

He urged upon the industry players of ecommerce to join hands for strengthening the digital market instead of trying to dominate each other. He also urged upon them to keep investing in technology and big data houses to keep up with the world.

Nadeem Hussain, founder and coach, Planet N Group of Companies, said Pakistan was evolving through a digital revolution, which directly contributed towards the economic growth of the country.

The revolution has allowed people to open basic bank accounts via mobile phones literally in one minute, and purchase half a dozen oranges against digital cash. "The time is not far when a woman in a remote area would have access to main markets for her products through six clicks only," he said.

Nadeem Hussain said 8-10 entities were establishing big data houses in Pakistan that would pace up the revolution. However, challenge remained with the industry players as how to get activated the dormant m-wallet accounts.

Ghazanfar Azzam, president and CEO, Mobilink Microfinance Bank, said the number of active m-wallet accounts stood at two million only. "Telecom led banks are aimed to increase number of m-wallet accounts to 50 million by 2020," he added.

Ali Riaz Chaudhry, president and CEO, Telenor Microfinance Bank, said industry players should join hands to fight against poverty, as this would help them achieve the goal of financial inclusion. He anticipated agriculture as potential growth area for ecommerce.