NIFT and Keenu have signed a strategic alliance for enabling digital commerce payments (Mobile/Electronic Commerce and Digital Payments) through NIFT’s DFS platform under the brand name “NIFT ePay”.
In an effort to promote Digital Payments in Pakistan, National Institutional Facilitation Technologies (NIFT), an existing Payment System Operator/Provider (PSO/PSP) offering nation-wide cheque clearing services, is gearing up to soon launch its e-commerce payment gateway.
On the other hand, Keenu is a fintech with a network of POS (Point-Of-Sale) machines at merchants and also offering its electronic payment method “NetConnect” for online merchants. It has also acquired an in-principal approval of EMI (Electronic Money Institution) license which creates an opportunity for these two to create an unmatched suite of services for their customers and financial institutions connected to these platforms.
This strategic alliance between the two established financial service providers in Pakistan will lead the war against cash-on-delivery which is a big hindrance to the growth of E-Commerce in Pakistan.
NIFT ePay’s primary advantage is to execute interoperable and secure digital commerce payments using any bank account and wallet details in Pakistan. This provides an opportunity to the customers to conduct e-commerce transactions directly through their accounts (CASA). These customers can be maintaining their accounts with any member bank of the NIFT e-Payment gateway.
Keenu, in a short span of four (4) years has created a name for itself in digital financial services deploying its POS machines over 7,000+ merchants across Pakistan. The Keenu NetConnect payment method also enables hundreds of online merchants to collect payments through partner banks/Wallets/Cards. After this agreement with NIFT ePay, the NetConnect payment method will utilize the NIFT ePayment Gateway for processing account-based payments from member banks for its merchants.
The agreement was signed by Mr. Haider Wahab, CEO – NIFT and Mr. Ejaz Hassan, CEO – Keenu with teams from both entities.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Haider Wahab said,
We are delighted to sign a strategic alliance with Keenu as it opens up opportunities to digitize a diverse bouquet of financial services for the customers of the member banks desiring to have easy and convenient options for making payments to merchants. Keenu has done well since its launch in 2012 to create its brand and space in the financial services space. We are keen venturing into the new line of business with our partners to offer a robust Digital Financial Services providing the range and level of services that the customers expect. Pakistan’s digital payment space has also grown exponentially over the last decade with some much-needed interventions taken by SBP. We feel with the continuous support and initiatives from the regulator, the payment space will be growing even at a faster rate in the coming years.
Mr. Ejaz Hassan remarked,
Keenu is delighted to be in a venture with an institution like NIFT. Digital payments is the way forward and together with NIFT, we will strive to bring positive change in the market of digital payments in Pakistan.
