JazzCash, Pakistan’s leading digital payments platform, and KASB Securities, the country’s leading brokerage firm, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to promote retail investment by easing access to investment products and stock market trading. The MoU was signed by Erwan Gelebart, CEO, JazzCash and Ali Farid Khwaja, Chairman, KASB Securities during a ceremony at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) today. As per the MoU, KASB Securities will assist JazzCash in offering its customers investment access to stocks, exchange traded funds, gold, government bonds and mutual funds. JazzCash will also work towards integrating KASB Securities’ popular investment application, KTrade, and KASB Varsity, a financial education platform. These new services will be available to JazzCash customers through its app in the second quarter of this year. This unique collaboration aims to increase financial inclusion and the retail investor base, as currently less than 0.1% of the population has invested in stocks and mutual funds with very limited access to investment products and financial education. Speaking about the initiative, Erwan Gelebart, CEO, JazzCash said, “With more than 12 million monthly active users, JazzCash has played a pivotal role in providing safe, reliable and convenient financial services to the masses. By leveraging our technology and a customer-centric approach coupled with KASB Securities’ market expertise, now we are aiming to enable millions of people to start trading to help foster a culture of investment in Pakistan.” According to Ali Farid Khwaja, Chairman, KASB Securities, “At KASB, our mission is to bring the best investment products, market access and information to the citizens. Until now this access has been limited to only large institutions and high net worth investors. We think our partnership with JazzCash will deepen financial penetration and help Pakistanis make better financial decisions. We believe this is a major milestone for the country’s capital markets’ development.”