The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) granted permission for pilot operations as a payment service operator/provider to Karachi-based fintech Safepay on Tuesday.
The pilot permission, which is the second stage toward obtaining a complete license for a payment service provider, was given after Safepay met the strict requirements of the SBP, according to a news statement from fintech.
The approval, it was said, will enable Safepay to move forward with merchant onboarding and expand its business.
The famed US-based accelerator Y-first Combinator’s graduate from Pakistan was the fintech company Safepay, which recently closed another round of investment after having raised money from a round-headed by Stripe.
According to the press release, Safepay will be able to “double down on the groundwork built in developing a world-class team, operations, and collaborations like this one with Cybersource” with the help of the most recent financing.
A one-window solution that enables customers to pay online through the merchant’s website using their bank account, mobile wallet, and now, their Visa or Mastercard supported card, is the startup’s main service to merchants. It has been operating in the market since 2019.
In support of that, Safepay also revealed its affiliation with Visa’s Cybersource.
“Through card acceptance, Pakistani merchants can receive payments from their local and international customers. This is supported by a market-leading digital onboarding experience, easy-to-use technical integrations, focused customer support and a powerful reporting dashboard that lets small and large businesses track their payments,” reads the press release.
Safepay co-founder Ziyad Parekh declared that the fintech was “eager” to see how its expanded service offerings may assist its merchants to expand their operations.
In the meantime, the partnership with Safepay “allows us to ensure that we provide merchants in Pakistan with access to high-quality security solutions that include fraud management, payment acceptance, and security” said Leila Serhan, Group Country Manager and Senior Vice President for North Africa, the Levant, and Pakistan at Visa.
According to Safepay Chief Business Officer Iman Urooj, the fintech might expand the number of its merchants with the pilot’s permission.
To read our blog on “Pakistan’s largest-ever seed round raises $17.6M from an Islamabad-based fintech
” click here.