Daily Times

KARACHI: MCB-Arif Habib Savings and Investments Limited (MCB-AH) has signed an agreement with Covalent Pvt Limited an Access Group and TPS Joint Venture to launch Pakistan’s First mutual fund with 1LINK enabled PayPak Debit Card.

This technology partnership will enable MCB-AH Investors to withdraw cash from any 1LINK enabled ATM and perform transactions at merchants just like a regular debit card in Pakistan.

Speaking at the occasion, Mr. Saqib Saleem, CEO, MCB-AH said “This is a ground-breaking innovation for the mutual funds industry of Pakistan. With the collaboration with Covalent and support of 1LINK we are pleased to bring this service that will change the transactional dynamics and most importantly bring ease and convenience to our customers.”

Sharing the inspiration at the signing ceremony, Mr. Imran Qureshi, CEO, Covalent said, “Our collaboration with MCB-Arif Habib Savings and Investments Limited is the first of its kind in the mutual fund industry of Pakistan. We are enormously proud that the liquidity paradigm for mutual funds investors will be redefined, where cash withdrawals and purchase will be instant. Investors can now be assured that their savings are available to them as and when they need funds.

Also at this occasion Mr. Shahzad Shahid, Director, Covalent said “With 60% Pakistani population under the age of 30, most of whom are tech savvy, the mutual fund industry must aim to deliver product and services digitally. Signing up with Covalent is the first step towards providing those value added services like Debit Transaction facility which will bring us closer to our younger generation of investors.

Covalent is the 1st local collaboration on the Cloud, formed with the objective of leading the way towards digital transformation of banks in the most cost effective and efficient way. We offer a white labeled digital payments platform that can address both the short and long term objectives of any financial institution, processor or telco. Incorporated in 2016, we are a joint venture between two leading industry players, Access Group and TPS.

Published in Daily Times, February  20th  2018.