Karandaaz Pakistan, a development finance firm championing financial inclusion and digital transformation, convened the first Open Banking roundtable session in Karachi. Industry participants included regulators, banks, fintech, and technology platforms.
This initiative came about as a result of the publication of a Karandaaz white paper that examined the benefits and opportunities of open banking in Pakistan.
Senior leadership from the State Bank of Pakistan, various banks, fintech companies, and technology platforms participated. Sharjeel Murtaza, Director for Digital Financial Services at Karandaaz, opened the session, emphasizing the importance of a consumer-centric approach to open banking. He highlighted the need to ensure consumer data portability without compromising security and privacy.
Sohail Javaad, Executive Director for the Digital Financial Services Group at the State Bank of Pakistan, delivered a keynote address highlighting Open Banking’s potential to improve the customer journey and optimize banking services. He stressed the importance of a consent management architecture (CMA) to protect customer data while ensuring its ownership. He also emphasized the need for reciprocity between different actors within the ecosystem.
Representatives from Karandaaz introduced the idea of open banking to industry professionals, who then debated which model would work best in Pakistan. They offered input on techniques for integrating accounts, price structures, customer protection, and data-sharing protocols.
This roundtable is the first in a planned series of events designed to spark discussion and advance open banking’s adoption in Pakistan.
