The First Microfinance Bank Ltd (FMFB) signed an agreement with LFD (Love for Data) to assist the Bank in its journey for Financial Inclusion and digital transformation.
Through this agreement, LFD will work exclusively with FMFB on data science and artificial intelligence as a key part of the Bank’s new vision.
Mr. Amir Masood Khan, President & CEO FMFB, and Mr. Syed Tajammul Hussain CEO LFD, signed the agreement in the presence of Mr. Sohail Malik, Head of DFS & Financial Inclusion at FMFB Head Office, Islamabad.
(L to R) Mr Rizwan Mughal, Mr Adnan Khalid, President & CEO FMFB – Mr Amir Masood Khan, CEO LFD – Mr Syed Tajammul Hussain, Mr Sohail Malik & Mr Ayaz Waheed
FMFB was established in 2002 as a nation-wide microfinance bank, licensed by the State Bank of Pakistan, with a strategic aim to address the multi-dimensional causes of poverty.
FMFB’s mission is to effect demonstrable, measurable and lasting improvement in the quality of life of target populations in Pakistan. It operates in all provinces of Pakistan including Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir.
The FMFB offers a range of client-centric microfinance products and services i.e. micro credit, deposits, insurance and other banking services to serve the diverse financial needs of the poor and financially excluded population in rural, urban and peri-urban areas of Pakistan.
Love For Data (LFD) is one of the leading Data Science companies in Pakistan that deals with statistical analytics and artificial intelligence. LFD recently won Pakistan’s first banking innovation challenge with their diverse and customized algorithms for the banking sector.
President & CEO FMFB Mr Amir Masood Khan, said, “FMFB aims at becoming one of the leading microfinance banks in Pakistan’s journey towards financial inclusion and extending the outreach of banking services pan Pakistan. With a lot of work being done globally in Big Data and Internet of Things, it is evident that the future of customer relationship and growth will be through data driven decisions and services. By implementing innovative digitized services, FMFB hopes to drastically increase its customer base and play a key part in the National Financial Inclusion Strategy 2020. We are very excited to partner with LFD, and take advantage of their knowledge of Pakistan’s existing datasets and position ourselves for the digital journey that lies ahead”.
Mr. S. T. Hussain, CEO LFD, said, “In the next few years competitive edge for any organization will depend on how well they utilize their data to increase their business efficiency.
Our mission is to help executives augment intelligence in their decision making through statistical analysis and machine learning techniques. We do this by serving our clients in Banking, FMCG, Healthcare and Retail, build complex algorithms engineered for their business needs. We call it a new art of problem solving.”
Speaking to our correspondent, Mr Sohail Malik, Group Head DFS & FI, FMFB, said “Banking around the world and especially in Pakistan is about to change. We are now getting to a point where artificial intelligence can evolve our existing methodologies and models. To make sure we have a head start, it was important for us to partner with a company like LFD that has built strong credentials with machine learning and artificial intelligence in the banking sector and with its global clientele. LFD is a very important strategic partner in the data driven expansion plan for FMFB and also for the entire group”
