Egypt’s Paymob to Start Operations in Pakistan

Paymob, an Egyptian digital payments service, aims to launch operations in Pakistan this month to capitalize on a sector that recently witnessed an investment frenzy in startups, reported Bloomberg. In addition, the business intends to expand its tap-on-phone payment service in Pakistan, which was recently launched in its home market in collaboration with MasterCard Inc. This development comes as the startup ecosystem in Pakistan, the world’s fifth-largest nation, broke records with more than $350 million in investments last year. According to Islam Shawky, CEO and co-founder of Paymob, Pakistan’s digital payments infrastructure is limited with just over 80,000 POS terminals and fewer than 3,000 e-commerce gateways. He said, “Our focus is small and medium enterprises that are a cornerstone of the economy but underserved. There is a huge gap in emerging markets”. He stated that the firm intends to have 100,000 merchants in Pakistan within the first two years and that it presently operates in Egypt, Jordan, and Kenya, with intentions to reach Saudi Arabia later this year. The Cairo-based startup, which allows online companies and offline merchants to receive and transmit payments, has a stellar clientele to support its expansion plans. Some of the company’s most stellar clients are LG Corp., Samsonite International SA, and Uber Technologies Inc.