Pakistan's First Truly Global Financial App
Pakistan's first truly global financial app TAG Fintech is a digital wallet and payment service provider that aims to change the way Pakistanis bank by offering features like opening an account and receiving a free Visa debit card within three minutes, money transfer anytime and anywhere, paying utility bills and recharging mobile phones with just a few taps on their phone. Users can also make online purchases using the TAG Visa debit card and get push notifications on all their activities including transfers, payments, and ATM withdrawals.
According to TAG Fintech, Pakistan is a massive market that offers endless opportunities for innovation. The country is home to over 225 million people, and many of them do not have access to banking services.
Despite its massive population, banks in Pakistan have failed to evolve and modernize their operations. Hence, their products and services have been mediocre, and most of them do not offer mobile banking.
While most of the major banks in the country have a very complicated business model, startups are trying to disrupt them and provide better service. In fact, some of these startups have even managed to secure record funding rounds in recent months.
One of these companies is TAG Fintech, a startup that has raised $5.5 million in pre-seed financing round. This is one of the biggest deals for a financial startup in the Middle East, Africa and Pakistan region.
The startup is founded by Talal Gondal, who previously worked as an investor in Europe and has over seven years of experience in the fintech space. He says he has long wanted to come back home to serve the people of his native country and launch a firm that would help them regain the trust of the local people.
He has been successful in getting the company approved by the central bank to operate as an EMI, a first step for a digital bank. He says the company has a limited number of customers and expects to start commercial operations in two to three months.
Moreover, the startup is expected to open a physical branch in Pakistan later on. In addition, it plans to launch in other countries in 2023.
Another startup in the sector is Zindigi, a financial app that has just launched in Pakistan. The app allows users to send and receive money, pay bills, recharge a mobile phone and get support from real people in the app. It is available for both Android and iOS devices and claims thousands of signups so far.
The company has raised an undisclosed amount in seed funding from regional and international investors, including Christian Rebernik, the former CTO of European online challenger N26, Stefan Wille who was previously Deputy CFO of British challenger bank Revolut, and i2c, a provider of digital payment and banking technology.
Tag has been able to get the in-principle approval from the central bank within three months, unlike many other financial startups that took a year or more. However, the startup is still waiting for the full license from the State Bank of Pakistan to fully operate as a bank.