Page 20 - CMA Journal (July-August 2025)

Exclusive Interview

First, simplicity is non-negotiable. The average user in
Pakistan spans a wide range of digital literacy levels, so
the solution must be intuitive enough for Personally, I believe success in
anyone—from a tech-savvy urban user to a rural Pakistan’s digital payments
shopkeeper—to use without friction. If users can’t
understand or use it easily, adoption stalls no matter space hinges on building
how sophisticated the backend is.
sustainable, realistic, and locally
Second, trust is essential. In a country where cash still
dominates and digital fraud is a growing concern, people relevant models—with an
need to feel that their money and information are secure.
That means not just building secure systems but also unwavering focus on user needs
investing in user education, dispute resolution, and
responsive support. Without trust, even the most and market resilience
innovative platforms will fail to build a loyal user base.
Third, ubiquity—being present across daily
touchpoints—is what turns a payment solution into a interoperability and trust in digital payments, and that
habit. It’s not enough to be available in a few apps or required deep alignment at both the strategic and
stores. True success lies in being deeply integrated into operational levels.
people’s everyday lives: paying bills, sending money to
The second lesson was that solving real, painful
family, shopping, paying school fees, or even buying problems is what gives technology staying power. With
from a street vendor. The more useful the platform
e-Pay, we addressed fundamental issues around manual
becomes in diverse real-world contexts, the more reconciliation, fragmented payment experiences, and
indispensable it becomes.
lack of visibility for billers. These were not just
Finally, patient capital plays a pivotal role. Pakistan’s inefficiencies—they were daily operational headaches
market requires investors and operators who understand for large institutions and SMEs alike. By focusing on these
the local landscape and are willing to take a long-term pain points, we built something that was not just
view. Building infrastructure, trust, and market readiness adopted but valued. That experience shaped my
takes time. Solutions that prioritize long-term impact approach: always anchor innovation in real-world
over short-term revenue often emerge as category problems, not just theoretical use cases.
leaders. Unfortunately, the sector has seen too many Another critical learning was that compromising on core
examples of premature exits or pivots due to impatience
elements—architecture, security, compliance, or user
or misaligned expectations.
experience—just to move faster or fit budgets is a trap. In
Personally, I believe success in Pakistan’s digital a market like Pakistan, where trust and reliability are
payments space hinges on building sustainable, realistic, hard-won, cutting corners can erode long-term impact.
and locally relevant models—with an unwavering focus Some trade-offs delayed integrations or limited
on user needs and market resilience. It’s not about racing adoption because certain partners weren’t fully ready.
to be first; it’s about staying the course and becoming That reinforced my belief that the foundation of any
essential. digital platform must be solid and future-proof—even if
it takes longer to build.
ICMA: When launching the e-Pay Gateway at NIFT,
what key lessons did you learn that still influence Lastly, I learned that resilience and clarity of purpose are
your work today? non-negotiable. Ecosystem shifts, regulatory delays, or
stakeholder misalignment are part of the journey. What
Fawad A. Kader: One of the most important lessons I matters is staying grounded in your mission and being
took from launching the e-Pay Gateway at NIFT was the flexible in execution while uncompromising on quality
power of partnerships and ecosystem orchestration. and trust.
Aligning diverse stakeholders—banks, billers, fintechs,
and regulators—around a shared vision is not easy, but These lessons continue to guide me at Contrivus today as
when done right, it becomes the driving force behind we help businesses in the MENAP region digitize and
sustainable change. We weren’t just launching a automate with purpose and precision.
product—we were laying the groundwork for

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