Page 68 - CMA Journal (July-August 2025)

Focus Section

The ecosystem is highly competitive and diverse. • Allow alternative data (telco, utility, tax) for credit
Startups, banks, and global players are expanding scoring under strict consent rules.
through partnerships and cross-border ventures. Venture
(3) Expanding Instant Payments
funding follows two tracks: accelerators such as 500
Global and Y Combinator support numerous smaller • Route all government payments and collections
deals, while regional giants like STV (USD 924.5 million) (social transfers, utility bills, taxes, fees) through
and Shorooq Partners (USD 879 million) back fewer but Raast.
larger investments to scale up fintechs.
• Offer 1–2% rebates for MSMEs that accept Raast.

Verified Case Studies from MENA

C
Saudi Arabia — STC Pay → STC Bank
d
S

w
n
STC Pay, the country’s largest wallet, secureed SAMA appprovals and traa tto STC Bank
e
in February 2025. More than 200,000 mercchants were aalready conneected, showinng a clear
2
e
u
w
regulatory pathway from wallets to fully licensed digital banks.
p
Egypt — Fawry

e
p
Egypt’s flagship e-payments firm delivered FY2024 revennue growth oof 68% and neet income
r
growth of 125%, n ng the resilienn yy- and merchant-based paayments
w
model even amid macroecono yy.
d
o
d
o
A
Jordan — eFAWATEERcom / JoPACC:

a
d
Under the Central Bank of Jordan and JoPAACC, MadfooaatCom’s eFAWWATEERcom processed
66.1 million trans s h USD 18.6 billion in 20244 for over 600 billers. JoPACCC’s broader
d
e
systems recorded 224.6 millio ns (+77% YoY) gg the power of public–

a
private models in y yments.
n
b
&
r
Morocco — Mobile Wallets & Payments (BBank Al-Maghhrib)

By end-2024, Morocco had 13.8 million payyment accounnts (+33% YoYY). While walllet volumes
e
h
a
remain a small share of payments overall, sstrong policy support and social programs are
i
m
driving account growth, with merchant acceptance as thhe next key unlock.
• Require government contractors to pay salaries and
Fintech Policy Blueprint for Pakistan
suppliers via Raast.
(1) Licensing Pathways
(4) Cybersecurity & Resilience
• Create a step-by-step license system like wallets/
EMIs → restricted digital banks → full digital banks. • Adopt a national baseline (NIST/ISO 27001 + PCI for
Publish clear capital, risk, and migration rules. payments) with risk-based rules for startups.
• Turn the SBP sandbox into a permanent fast-track, • Mandate real-time fraud data sharing (privacy-safe)
with 90-day reviews and transparent approval among banks/EMIs through a Raast-linked utility.
dashboards. • Enforce strong customer authentication for high-risk
• Issue tailored licenses for BNPL, payment initiation transactions.
(PISP/AISP), micro-savings, and agent acquiring with (5) Virtual Assets & Tokenization
proportionate requirements.
• Begin with whitelisted stablecoins for capped B2B
(2) Open Banking & Data Sharing
cross-border pilots; no retail leverage or derivatives
• Mandate bank data APIs (read + payment initiation), at this stage.
aligned with Raast, phased in by bank size.
• Keep CBDC in pilot phase for wholesale uses
• Set up a NADRA-linked national consent manager for (securities settlement, bulk G2P payments) until
standardized, revocable consent with audit trails. cost-benefit is clear.
66 ICMA’s Chartered Management Accountant, Jul-Aug 2025