Page 17 - CMA Journal (July-August 2025)

Exclusive Interview

government collections and disbursements, consent-
based data sharing, and open APIs. With real-time rails,
Fintech can accelerate SMEs can improve cash flow and build credit from
transaction histories, expanding the tax base and
digitization of the economy, bringing more women and underserved communities
increase transparency, and boost into the financial mainstream.

productivity by giving citizens ICMA: How do you see global fintech trends
influencing Pakistan, and what opportunities do you
and businesses faster access to think lie ahead for local startups?

payments, savings, credit, Danish Lakhani: Global fintechs are already shaping
local innovation. Safepay is a Stripe equivalent, Qist
remittances, and insurance Bazaar is like Klarna, and Haball and Orbian have much in
common. At NayaPay, we draw inspiration from WeChat
Pay and CashApp, but also from newer B2B fintechs like
ICMA: What were some of the biggest leadership Monzo, Mercury, Ramp, and Brex. Beyond payments,
challenges you faced while building NayaPay as huge opportunities exist in digital insurance, brokerage,
Pakistan’s first Electronic Money Institution, and how and eventually crypto once regulations allow. But
did you overcome them? Pakistan must avoid pitfalls that stifle innovation, such as
pricing interventions that undermine startups’ revenue
Danish Lakhani: When we launched in 2022, our
models and distort the competitive landscape. Instead,
toughest challenge was becoming gross-margin positive
we need a level playing field, market-driven pricing, and
in the midst of macroeconomic shocks—currency
broad support for Raast, which is already a
devaluation, inflation, and a collapse in venture
transformative national payment platform.
funding—while regulations capped revenue and
required some services to be provided below cost. We
had to make difficult but transparent choices. For
instance, global card schemes charge issuers for every We need a level playing field,
transaction, even those that are declined. Rather than market-driven pricing, and broad
block users outright, we allowed them to accumulate up
to five declines, with fees only due on the fifth one. We support for Raast, which is
also engaged directly with global merchants to stop
sending transactions on blocked cards, which were already a transformative national
creating unnecessary costs. These steps initially cost us payment platform
some users, but they stabilized the business, and within
months we returned to growth.
Like banks, EMIs also earn from float, but wallet balances
ICMA: What advice would you give to young
are much smaller, and payments in Pakistan carry
professionals in Pakistan who want to lead and
razor-thin (often negative) margins. That made driving
innovate in the fintech space?
down the cost-to-serve critical. From the outset, we
invested in automation, efficient processes, and scalable
Danish Lakhani: For those aspiring to enter fintech,
technology, which today give us the lowest per-user
immerse yourself in startups, either by joining
costs in the industry and allow us to keep products
high-growth companies or launching your own. Master
affordable.
at least one hard skill deeply—software engineering,
ICMA: In your view, what role will fintech play in data analysis, finance, product design, or another—so
transforming Pakistan’s economy over the next five that you can contribute meaningfully and then broaden
to ten years? your capabilities on the job. Above all, focus on solving
real problems, not chasing buzzwords. The most
Danish Lakhani: Fintech can accelerate digitization of
impactful ideas often come from addressing overlooked
the economy, increase transparency, and boost
pain points in the customer journey.
productivity by giving citizens and businesses faster
access to payments, savings, credit, remittances, and
The Editorial Board thanks Mr. Danish A. Lakhani, Founder &
insurance. The real catalyst, however, is end-to-end CEO- NayaPay, for sparing his precious time to give an exclusive
digitization of processes—not just the payment. interview for Chartered Management Accountant Journal.
National priorities should include e-invoicing, digital
ICMA’s Chartered Management Accountant, Jul-Aug 2025 15