Notes on Regulating Branchless Banking in Pakistan

June 3, 2007    

Pakistan's government has made expanding access to finance a key policy priority. CGAP found policy makers already attuned to some of the ways in which information and communications technology and new branchless banking models might be used to reach massive numbers of presently unserved poor people. Moreover, they are open to regulatory change to make this possible. Industry players, too, particularly mobile network operators, see the enormous potential of branchless banking as a profitable value added service.

But the challenges to branchless banking posed by current regulation in Pakistan are also formidable. To address these, while paying due regard to the new and enhanced risks that branchless banking can carry, a committee has been assembled involving financial system and telecommunications policy makers and industry representatives. Moreover, the central bank, in close consultation with the industry, has started exploring legal and regulatory adaptations to facilitate branchless banking. As a result of this work, some potentially viable paths are already emerging.