1Link to roll out new service in July
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1Link to roll out new service in July
our correspondent
Friday, April 25, 2014
KARACHI: Pakistan is rolling out an innovative e-banking service in July, which will enable bank accountholders to direct their banks to
pay utility bills on pre-defined dates.
Speaking at 12th international e-banking conference on Thursday, Chief Executive Officer 1Link Guarantee Limited Faisal Ejaz Khan
said Pakistan is the sixth country in the world, which is ready to launch this direct debit service.
“This 1Link’s service will enable customers to direct their banks to pay on pre-defined dates the utility bills, education fees, monthly
installments for their car and home from their bank accounts to the beneficiaries,” he said.
“The service will make accountholders free from tension of making such payments on time,” Khan said.
He further said the execution of latest version (2.0) of Inter Bank Fund Transfer – interoperability software - helped preventing money
laundering in Pakistan, as it defines reasons for remittances and source of funds.
Naveed Ali Baig, chief executive officer of Innovative Pvt Ltd, said that e-banking industry was witnessing rapid progress in Pakistan
over the past three to four years.
People were using various channels, including mobile banking, internet banking, call centers, etc, to make time-saving transactions.
Baig said Pakistan recorded 10-fold increase in installation of ATM (auto teller machines) in the last one year. The number of ATMs
rose from a few hundred in 2012 to 8,000 ATMs in the country.
However, there are only 5.42 ATMs for each 100,000 people in Pakistan as compared with 11.21 ATMs in Iran, 11.39 in Nigeria, 15.4 in
Sri Lanka, 173 in US and 282.49 ATMs per 100,000 people in South Korea.
Amir Malik, managing director of Pakistan Software Export Board and member information technology ministry, said that IT firms, mobile
companies and third party solution provider in IT field were doing tremendous job here.
Also, telephone and mobile companies were playing a pivotal role in increasing use of e-banking in the country, he said.
During the occasion, Ricardo Marques, senior management executive of Wincor Nixdorf, said that IT firms and banks should be
available to customers round-the-clock.
The firms should gather data from socialising networks to know emerging needs of their customers. “It is not the technology, which
attracts customers, but it is need of the customers, which helps firms to develop the required technology,” Nixdorf said.
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