The encyclopedia · Finance & Accounting · Strategic decision · 2009–2013
Easypaisa turned Pakistan's corner shops into bank branches
A telco-bank joint venture franchised 20,000 shops as branches, reaching Pakistan's unbanked — 130 million transactions in four years.
Easypaisa · Telenor Pakistan · Tameer Microfinance Bank
the move
Easypaisa launched in October 2009 as Pakistan's first branchless-banking platform, a joint venture in which Telenor bought 51% of Tameer Microfinance Bank because State Bank rules required a bank-led model. Telenor brought its distribution and marketing muscle; Tameer ran regulation, compliance and back-end processing.
The placement was the innovation: within five years Easypaisa had about 20,000 retail outlets, versus Habib Bank's 1,400 branches after 60 years of growth. Shops were paid commissions, so fixed overhead stayed near zero, and customers could pay utility bills or send money over the counter with no registration and no Telenor SIM.
By June 2013 Easypaisa had processed nearly 130 million transactions worth more than $2.9 billion, with roughly 200,000 daily transactions, targeting the 85 million unbanked adults among Pakistan's 100 million.
why it works
- The target customer trusted the neighbourhood retailer, not a bank teller.
- Commission-based shops turned fixed branch costs into variable costs.
- No-registration over-the-counter transfers removed onboarding friction.
- Telenor's rural distribution footprint reached where banks had no branches.
what transfers
If the customer won't come to the bank, put the bank inside a shop the customer already trusts — and pay the shopkeeper per transaction instead of building branches.
what came after
Easypaisa kept growing and became the template for Pakistani mobile money; by late 2018 Ant Financial held 45% of the bank. In November 2021 Telenor announced it would sell its 55% stake in Telenor Microfinance Bank. By May 2024 the Easypaisa platform reported over 41 million registered users and 14 million monthly active users.
references
- EasyPaisa: Seizing the white space and business model innovation
- Telenor Decides to Sell Stakes in Telenor Bank
- TMB reports Rs1.03bn Q1 profit
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