Page 13 - CMA Journal (July-August 2025)

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW
Exclusive Interview

“
The SME and micro-enterprise sectors

remain vastly underbanked, with limited

access to formal credit and cash-flow

management tools. Fintechs can unlock this

potential by leveraging transaction and

behavioral data from digital payments,

design tailored financial solutions

e-commerce, and supply chain activity to “
ICMA: How do you view the current state of Pakistan’s
fintech ecosystem, and what is your outlook for the next
five years?
Nadeem Hussain: Pakistan’s fintech ecosystem has moved
from experimentation to early maturity. Easypaisa and
JazzCash built the foundation for digital payments and
mobile money, onboarding tens of millions of users. Ant
Financial’s 45% stake in Easypaisa validated the market and
is now paying off as Easypaisa becomes the country’s first
licensed digital bank, leveraging its strong DFS and telco
pedigree.
New entrants like SadaPay and NayaPay are driving
wallet-based payments and card issuance, while
PayFast, Keenu, and Safepay are digitizing merchant
acceptance and e-commerce. The recent acquisition of
Keenu by Bazaar Technologies signals growing
investor confidence and reflects the robustness of
the local fintech ecosystem.
Over the next five years, Pakistan will transition
from transactional fintech to full-stack, data-driven
financial services. Licensed digital banks will offer
instant credit, digital savings, and wealth
products. Embedded finance will integrate
payments, credit, and insurance directly into
retail, e-commerce, and lifestyle apps, allowing Mr. Nadeem Hussain
users to access financial services where they
already transact. This convergence of wallets, Founder & Coach, Planet N Group
merchant acquirers, and digital banks will drive
deep financial inclusion and position Pakistan of Companies and Chairman,
as one of South Asia’s most dynamic fintech Pakistan Fintech Association

markets.

ICMA’s Chartered Management Accountant, Jul-Aug 2025 11