ISLAMABAD: Paymob, an Egypt-based digital financial payments provider, plans to kickstart operations in Pakistan this month, aiming to capitalize on a market that has seen increased funding for its startups, international publication Bloomberg reported this week.
Pakistan, a South Asian nation with a population of over 220 million people, has seen tremendous growth in funding for its startups. In 2021, the Pakistani startup sector witnessed the best year for funding with 81 deals made for $350 million. This was five times more than the amount raised in 2020, which was $65 million.
Paymob allows online businesses and offline merchants to accept and send payments. The company's CEO and co-founder Islam Shawky told Bloomberg Paymob had seen an opportunity for growth in Pakistan.
The company plans to have 100,000 merchants in Pakistan during the first two years of its operations, Shawky said.
“Our focus is small and medium enterprises that are a cornerstone of the economy but underserved,” he said. “There is a huge gap in emerging markets.”
Pakistan’s digital payments sector has a lot of room for growth, considering it has just over 80,000 POS terminals and less than 3,000 e-commerce gateways, Shawky added.
Paymob also plans to extend its tap-on-phone payment service in Pakistan that has been recently introduced in its home market with MasterCard Inc, he added.
Paymob currently operates in Egypt, Jordan and Kenya and aims to penetrate markets in Saudi Arabia as well.
