The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has developed a comprehensive ‘Customers’ Digital Onboarding Framework,’ that will allow banks and Microfinance Banks (MFBs) to open bank accounts for Pakistanis via digital platforms such as websites/portals, smartphone apps, digital kiosks, and so on.
“With the fast expansion in the use of electronic banking channels, particularly in light of the COVID-19 epidemic, the desire from banks and Pakistanis for online banking services has multiplied,” the central bank stated in a statement.
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According to SBP, the structure provides an easy approach for all sections of society to create bank accounts, and it especially allows freelancers, self-employed or jobless women, and recipients of remittances from overseas to do so online with minimal paperwork requirements.
While accounts are generally created as Savings or Current Accounts, the framework divides them into 4 groups based on functional restrictions such as deposit or withdrawal limits, fund transfer limits, and the papers necessary to open an account.
The ‘Asaan Digital Account,’ ‘Asaan Digital Remittance Account,’ ‘Freelancer Digital Account,’ and the ‘Digital Account’ are among the types.
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The first group is the simplest to use, needing only the most basic details and the fewest documents, but with certain capability limitations. The fourth category, Digital Account, has no functional limitations but requires additional information to establish an account.