HBL Soft Launches its Branchless Banking Solution

Habib Bank Limited has soft launched its branchless banking solution in Pakistan as a pilot before going for a full scale commercial launch, that is planned for October 2012, told us sources familiar with the development.
HBL branchless banking will be second bank lead branchless banking solution, Omni being the first, that aims to trigger the next big segment in a Pakistani market to give tough competition to services like Easypaisa.
HBL’s branchless banking solution is powered by Sybase 365, a SAP company, and is managed by Abacus consulting which claims to have deployed this large scale solution in record time.
Though we aren’t sure about the complete product line and service charges of HBL branchless banking but from what we have heard so far it appears that HBL is going to offer all kind of services that EasyPaisa is offering to its consumers and corporate customers with least 25 percent lesser charges.
Bill payment, funds transfer, government to persons transaction, tax collection, loan payments, insurance and many other services are what HBL will kick start with, with reports of more value added services coming in future.
We were further told by sources that HBL will adopt an innovative new way for carrying financial transactions, which would not be telco dependent.
Thanks to its large banking network, HBL is said to start its branchless banking operations with over 200 regional hubs which will control end-point retailors in their respective regions.
Experts opine that branchless banking industry is going to get more competitive in coming time, eventually curbing EasyPaisa’s monopoly in the business, which will benefit the end user who will get better services at optimum prices.
Expect more details on HBL’s branchless banking in coming days.