Pakistani fintech SadaPay gets in-principle approval from country’s central bank to launch mobile wallet
Islamabad-based fintech SadaPay has been granted the in-principle approval by the State Bank Of Pakistan for an Electronic Money Institution (EMI) license.
Founded by American entrepreneur Brandon Timinsky who started working on the idea of shortly after moving to Pakistan in 2018, SadaPay, according to the details available on SBP’s website (PDF), will offer a digital wallet to individuals (consumers), merchants, and freelancers.
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Among the other companies listed on the website that have received in-principle or pilot phase approvals within the last six months, SadaPay is the only one with an offering for freelancers too.
According to its website, SadaPay will allow users including freelancers to accept payments from 45 countries around the world. Given the fact that Pakistan is one of the fastest-growing freelance economies in the world but receiving payments remains still remains a very big pain point for freelancers across the country, SadaPay’s services to freelancers could very well be the element that eventually differentiates it from the existing digital wallets in the market.
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Those who will receive the early access will be able to signup for an account on SadaPay with a selfie, a picture of their ID card, and some basic information without doing any paperwork. Its Mastercard is accepted at 30 million merchants around the world, online and in-stores. The startup on its website also claims to have the lowest foreign exchange rate, “We only pass you our cost of 1.5% for foreign exchange when you make non-PKR purchases with your card.”
Source: https://www.menabytes.com/sadapay-sbp-approval/
