Acing the fast-paced digital growth that is happening worldwide is every country’s first and foremost goal in this century. However, one important factor that holds an economy way back in the race is the lack of financial literacy and inclusion. It is a failing that leads to countless other barriers.
When we talk about Pakistan, 49% of the country’s total population consists of women. As per the State Bank of Pakistan, only 21.3% of Pakistani adults own a transactional account, out of which a mere 7% are women.
This has been a great barrier not just to the digital ecosystem, but to our economic growth as well. For this huge gap to be filled, it is highly important for females to be financially included.
As an online selling platform, Daraz has always been actively involved in improving the digital ecosystem. In the recent past, the platform ran a campaign for female seller acquisition where women were provided with a brilliant entrepreneurial opportunity to excel by selling their products online during the pandemic.
Around 60%-70% of the females that signed up for this initiative to grow their businesses did not own a bank account. This particular instance was quite alarming and something to be dealt with on an emergency basis.
To empower the female population of Pakistan and work towards financial education, the team at Daraz decided to partner with two financial giants, Visa and HBL, who have a history of similar inclusion and empowerment initiatives.
Both companies have been long-term partners with Daraz in various campaigns and have worked together for years to promote digital payments and build different initiatives to develop and promote convenience and security for their joint customer base.
This multidimensional partnership has been transcended towards seller education and awareness, as that is the first step that needs to be taken towards a financially included Pakistan.
Only last year, in a similar arrangement, Daraz partnered with HBL to promote their stimulus package for SMEs throughout the pandemic. Such initiatives not only provide sustainable results but also convert extraordinary transactional success rates while generating awareness about selling on Daraz.
To further discuss this partnership, an online panel discussion was held between the representatives of the three esteemed companies. Present during the discussion were Essam El Daly – Head of Merchants & Acquisition, VISA International, Syed Zeeshan Ali – Director Digital Payments, Daraz, and Shazia Gul – Head of Women Market Program, HBL NISA.
Reflecting upon the importance of women’s financial inclusion for the growth of the economy, Essam El Daly said:
“The low percentage that we have of women’s access to financial services in our market is unfortunate. For our region, we have introduced multiple initiatives to support that. We aim to promote and grow entrepreneurship for women which is why this is at the forefront and the core of everything that we do, especially in markets like our cluster.”
Women these days contribute considerably to the market which is why removing this lack of awareness and the inability of women to have access to financial services is the key to capacity-building in order to project businesses well.
Briefing about HBL’s efforts in bridging the gender divide within the financially included population of Pakistan, Shazia Gul – Head of Women Market Program, said:
“HBL has always been at the forefront of developmental programs, be it through the Ehsas program or any other initiative. Women are a major part of our economic landscape which is why it is a basic building block to develop a stable unit of growth, for poverty reduction, economic growth, and for employment generation.”
Lack of education, financial literacy, access to resources, and a multitude of such issues in a patriarchal society is what make it hard for the women population to own their bank account.
In order to overcome these barriers, HBL introduced HBL Nisa, a multifaceted platform back in 2016, which addresses the need for women to be brought to the front as well.
Syed Zeeshan Ali, Director Digital Payments at Daraz, is positive about this collaboration as he says:
“Here is where we come at a common crossroad where Daraz is providing the women of Pakistan with a platform where they can do their economic activity. All these efforts done together are really pieces of the puzzle that could solve this problem when put together in a composite package.”
“When HBL, Visa, and Daraz put their heads together, it makes the entire package complete,” he shares.
