It is vital to provide ample opportunities of financial service to unbanked and under banked people apposed to time taking domestic commercial banks procedures. It is service of a primary financial service provider to providing loans within 15 minutes, Nadeem Hussain, co-founder and CEO of Tez Financial Services said. Tez Financial Services, digital non-bank microfinance company (NBMFC) is focusing to serve unbanked and underbanked customers in Pakistan. In this respect, it has raised $1.1 million in a seed round led by Omidyar Network, impact investment firm established by Pierre Omidyar, founder of eBay. Other investors on this round include Accion Venture Lab, seed-stage investment initiative of global nonprofit Accion and Planet N Funds will be deployed to build company’s credit portfolio, enhance its mobile technology platform and to meet regulatory NBMFC requirements. We will be able to process a life and health insurance claim in similar time, he said. In Pakistan, more than 50 percent of population is unbanked, according to World Bank. Many resort to using a variety of informal financial tools to manage their finances, but those can be unreliable, expensive and inefficient. With more than one-third of population living below poverty line, minute fluctuations in cash flow could impair their ability to meet their day-to-day financial needs, such as paying bills or buying groceries. Leveraging increased penetration of smartphones in country, Tez aims to integrate masses into financial mainstream. Tez aims to reduce financial vulnerability of over 50 million underserved Pakistanis through a single platform, a smartphone app, driven by artificial intelligence, providing frictionless access to an all-encompassing financial services offering including nano-credit, digital ROSCAs, health and term life insurance and tailored investments. “New technologies, higher smartphone penetration, and falling data costs are fueling a great momentum for financial inclusion in frontier markets such as Pakistan. Tez is leveraging this to push boundaries of banking in country with an all-digital offering,” said Kabir Kumar, head of policy and ecosystem building at Omidyar Network. Tez marks our first investment in Pakistan, a country with a significant need for innovative products that can bring its population into formal financial system, said Michael Schlein, President and CEO of Accion. By supporting Tez’s all-digital model, we can help make an important difference for millions of underserved Pakistani families and businesses. Tez has integrated with EasyPaisa, UBL Omni and SimSim as its branchless banking partners, resulting in largest combined agent network for its customers. It has also partnered with two of the largest insurance companies in Pakistan, EFU Life and Jubilee General to provide life and health coverage. VentureDive is technology partner, fostering technological innovation at a global scale, with offices in Pakistan, UAE and Germany. Tez is available for download on Google Play and for actively disbursing credit to masses. Soon, it will be launching additional products that will help further advance financial inclusion in Pakistan. Published in Daily Times, October 21st 2018.