Chinese financial company invested nearly $200 million to develop mobile payments in Pakistan

Beijing. March 15. Silkroadnews - A major Chinese digital financial services company on Tuesday invested 184.5 million U.S. dollars to a mobile payment services Easypaisa in Pakistan to help boost the country's mobile payment and digital financial services, Xinhua reports.
China’s Ant Financial Services Group has concluded a strategic partnership agreement and signed a memorandum of understanding with the Norwegian Telenor Group to attract mobile payments and inclusive financial services to individuals and small and micro enterprises in Pakistan.
The Easypaisa, Pakistan’s first mobile financial services platform launched in 2009, is owned by Telenor Microfinance Bank (TMB), a subsidiary of Telenor Group. According to the agreement, Ant Financial investments will account for 45% of TMB stake.
According to the World Bank, about 100 million Pakistanis do not use banking services, making 5% of the world’s non-banking population. It is expected that cooperation between Ant Financial and Telenor will provide micro-finance and related financial services to the less privileged and non-banking segment of the Pakistani society.