Jahanzeb Khan, President and CEO of easypaisa digital bank, said that insight-driven digital innovation tailored to local market realities can drive broad financial inclusion in Pakistan. Speaking at the inaugural Money20/20 Middle East conference in Riyadh, he outlined how easypaisa’s digital-first approach, partnerships and technology adoption are widening access to banking services, boosting remittances and supporting underserved communities.
Khan joined fintech leaders on a panel titled “Future of Global Finance is Local+Digital,” where he described easypaisa’s transformational journey as Pakistan’s first digital retail bank. He said the bank’s commercial launch earlier this year marked a pivotal step toward extending formal financial services to millions who remain outside or on the margins of the traditional banking system, noting Pakistan’s financial inclusion rate stands at just over 60 percent.
A central aim for easypaisa, Khan explained, is to serve as a gateway for remittances and cross-border transactions that benefit households, small businesses and freelancers. “One of our focus areas is to make easypaisa the primary platform for families receiving remittances, small businesses conducting international transactions, and young freelancers working with clients worldwide,” he said, adding that faster, cheaper and more accessible cross-border payments will help channel foreign currency into the formal economy and strengthen Pakistan’s economic resilience.
Khan underscored the bank’s commitment to supporting regulatory efforts to digitize the economy and advance a cashless agenda. He said easypaisa will work with the government and the central bank to promote interoperability, security and inclusion across the financial ecosystem, aiming to ensure that more Pakistanis can participate in the formal digital economy.
Panelists also discussed how global partnerships and technology can accelerate local solutions. Khan highlighted easypaisa’s collaboration with Ant International to combine global expertise with local insights, and pointed to AI-driven tools, electronic KYC and mobile platform-as-a-service capabilities as enablers for faster onboarding, smarter risk management and tailored products for underserved segments.
Easypaisa’s reach underlines the ambition behind these initiatives. The bank serves roughly one in every five Pakistanis, with a female user base of 31 percent. Latest annual figures show the platform handled over 2.7 billion transactions valued at more than PKR 9.5 trillion, equivalent to about 9 percent of Pakistan’s GDP, demonstrating its growing role in the country’s financial landscape.
Money20/20 provides a forum for banks, fintechs, regulators, investors and technology firms to explore innovations shaping the future of finance. The conference, in its regional debut, brought together international and local stakeholders to discuss collaboration models that can drive inclusive, market-specific digital finance solutions.
