Banking & Finance UAE’s Mashreq to operate digital retail bank in Pakistan By Pramod Kumar February 23, 2025, 4:20 PM Reuters/Mosab Omar Mashreq Bank Pakistan will be able to use artificial intelligence and cloud computing to offer personalised banking services The Pakistani subsidiary of the UAE’s Mashreq, which trades on the Dubai Financial Market, has been granted a licence for a digital retail bank. This is the first restricted licence for pilot operations, which will allow Mashreq Bank Pakistan to use artificial intelligence and cloud computing to offer personalised banking services, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) said in a statement last week. The central bank introduced a regulatory framework for licensing fully-fledged digital banks in 2022, enabling both fintech startups and traditional banks to establish fully digital banking services. It has granted no-objection certificates to five institutions so far. The digital banks are expected to play a crucial role in providing affordable financial services to underserved and unbanked populations, SBP said. In January 2023 Mashreq acquired a digital banking license under the digital regulatory framework issued by Pakistan’s central bank. Pakistan has the third largest unbanked adult population globally, with about 100 million adults without a bank account and 82 percent of women without any access to financial services.
