Paymob, an Egyptian digital payment provider, is to launch operations in Pakistan this month in order to profit from a startup investment frenzy.
Additionally, the company plans to develop its tap-on-phone payment service in Pakistan, which was recently introduced in conjunction with MasterCard Inc. in its home market.
This move comes as Pakistan’s startup ecosystem, the world’s fifth-largest, smashed records last year with more than $350 million in funding.
Pakistan’s digital payments infrastructure is limited, with just over 80,000 point-of-sale terminals and less than 3,000 e-commerce gateways, according to Islam Shawky, CEO and co-founder of Paymob. “Our focus is on small and medium-sized businesses, which are critical to the economy but are underserved,” he explained. There is a massive disparity in emerging markets.”
He claimed that the company expects to have 100,000 merchants in Pakistan within the first two years and is currently operating in Egypt, Jordan, and Kenya, with plans to expand into Saudi Arabia later this year.
The Cairo-based startup, which enables online businesses and offline retailers to collect and transfer payments, boasts an impressive clientele that will help it expand. LG Corp., Samsonite International SA, and Uber Technologies Inc. are just a few of the company’s illustrious clients.
