APNA Microfinance Bank Pakistan successfully migrates to SmartVista
BPC is proud to announce the successful migration of Pakistan’s APNA Microfinance Bank to SmartVista.
Founded in 2012, APNA is a private financial institution created by a group of banking leaders to provide financial services to the unbanked. Since only 20% of Pakistan’s population have a bank account, APNA Microfinance Bank has dedicated its efforts to the remaining 80%, particularly women, micro-entrepreneurs and farmers in rural areas. As this initiative addresses challenges in financial inclusion, BPC made sure that its SmartVista suite was focused on the customer to ensure that it was simple and easy to use.
Biometric authentication
SmartVista ATM switch, card management and POS solutions have all been implemented at the bank, which successfully migrated its operations from its legacy systems over a few months. The SmartVista ATM management solution uses biometrics, enabling APNA customers to make cash withdrawals and perform other ATM transactions without having to remember a PIN. This crucial function simplifies ATM usage for all citizens, regardless of their level of literacy, while keeping their banking activities secure.
Connection to the PAYPAK payment scheme
Another key milestone in this project was the connection to PAYPAK via 1Link. PAYPAK is Pakistan’s first domestic payment scheme, created to offer greater access to basic financial services using a simple interchange mechanism with minimal lifecycle costs compared to the cards offered by global payment schemes. The network has more than 30 member banks, which APNA customers can now use across the country.
Enhanced efficiency and security combined with major cost reduction
The move to SmartVista provides APNA with numerous benefits, including increased countrywide reach with more inclusive banking capabilities. Since the bank did not have any facilities to produce EMV (chip and pin) cards before using SmartVista, its legacy systems do not support EMV card issuance, thus forcing the bank to procure multiple separate systems to perform this simple task. With SmartVista, EMV cards are produced efficiently and quickly locally to meet market demand and as per the State Bank of Pakistan’s EMV mandate. APNA has estimated that this will reduce its cost of procurement by around 50% within the next 5 years, allowing it to deliver affordable banking services to everyone.
BPC is proud of its support for financial inclusion in Pakistan. The company has a long history of serving financial institutions in the country with state-of-the-art omnichannel solutions and recently reinforced its presence by opening a new office in Karachi, the country’s largest metropolis and financial centre. This office enables BPC to get closer to its bank customers and gain their trust by providing highly trained local implementation and support services.