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AFTER what seemed like a losing battle, I was able to convince my father to sign up for digital banking a few months ago. His hesitation was generational, one that stemmed from a fear of new technologies, but I reminded him how well he took to becoming a pro at the internet, smartphones and WhatsApp. The resistance to digital banking, however, was a tough one to overcome because he feared data theft and also ATM-related theft. When I told him about how many strides had taken place in cyber and ATM-related security, and that I would take care of all the logistics and coordinate with his bank, he agreed to give it a try.
If you have ever had a bank account in this country, you know this story ends in tears.
The stars (read: systems) just weren’t aligned and after multiple attempts and several calls trying to jump through seemingly simple tasks, I gave up. This is not about bank staff or customer service not being helpful as much as it is about just how challenging it was to get him registered on an app.
If you want to gauge how consumers feel, search “banking apps Pakistan” on Reddit to read people’s experiences and frustrations.
Around 161m to 182m Pakistanis are estimated to be unbanked.
Two years ago, Profit magazine did an extensive cover story reviewing banking apps in Pakistan, looking at UX design, functionality, ease of access and glitches. Last year, when reviewing that story, the magazine found that the bank that came out top — meeting 21 out of 25 of the criteria — had become “the source of great frustration as per some customer testimonials that have come in recent times”. That bank wasn’t alone, Profit wrote in April 2024.
Our reliance on digital services means it’s difficult to revert to the old ways, like paper banking which is tedious. A State Bank report last October showed that digital payments had reached 84 per cent of the overall payment ecosystem. This growth was “driven by the increasing availability and adoption of digital payment channels, reflecting a growing reliance on these systems by customers across the country”, wrote this newspaper.
But it does not reflect the challenges faced by folks like a friend abroad, who has, so far, spent almost a month trying to access his bank account in Karachi. Every time I met him, he would narrate a new challenge related to the hoops and hurdles he went through. I sympathised with him but I was not at all surprised, having heard, and experienced, some iteration of it myself, most recently with a digital wallet “service”.
On one hand, we make so many strides but then, on the other, slide into disarray at the same time. Ask Pakistani freelancers who struggle to get paid for their work from clients abroad.
Mobile technology has upended our lives and brought innumerable changes, largely positive. Various sources claim there were 134 million mobile broadband data subscribers at the end of 2024. It is the one market that has seen tremendous growth every year, demonstrating how significant it is, and not just for financial services. However, of equal import is a report by Pakistan Telecommunications Authority in January that said the number of 3G and 4G users decreased from 139.037m in end November to 138.496m by end December, last year. The number of telecom connections per 100 individuals also recorded a small drop.
This reflects the challenges of sustaining 3G and 4G growth, the report said “alongside the industry’s [in]ability to address consumer issues efficiently”.
How do we reckon between the two scenarios of “tremendous growth” and tremendous inconveniences? Who does that growth benefit, when the majority of the unbanked can barely make ends meet. Every day the rich get richer and are not fazed by drastic curbs on their civil liberties. Peca-who for them and Peca-boo for the rest of us.
Technology has improved financial inclusion by offering products — mobile banking and digital payment platforms — to the underserved who couldn’t access traditional financial services. This reduces financial inequality but more importantly, widens their economic potential.
Around 161m to 182m Pakistanis are estimated to be unbanked. Unsurprisingly, financial inclusion is much worse for women. The State Bank reported that women account holders rose from 13m in 2018 to 31m in 2023 but I fear we cannot rest on this laurel. How do we change the culture that prefers cash transactions (they are free)? How do we ensure women have access to their own phones and formal financial solutions that grant them independence? Women face so many difficulties opening bank accounts in their own name even today.
How can we build systems that effectively serve the banked and unbanked? What good are all these strides if verifying your biometrics causes so much tension because the “link is down”? Who will come to invest in Pakistan if the internet doesn’t work?
The writer is an instructor of journalism.
X: L*edeingLady*
Published in Dawn, February 23rd, 2025
