Easypaisa Mobile Money Innovation in Pakistan

EASYPAISA a mobile money service launched in Pakistan in 2009, serves more than five million customers a month through 25,000 points of service. By the end of 2012, it had processed more than 100 million transactions with a throughput of more than US$ 1.4 billion. Easypaisa was identified as a 2012 GSMA Mobile Money Sprinter — one of the 14 most successful mobile money services.

This paper from the GSMA explores the three important mobile money innovations emerge from the Easypaisa story. First, Easypaisa was launched from a unique corporate structure. Telenor Pakistan, a mobile network operator (MNO) acquired a 51% ownership stake in Tameer Bank, a microfinance bank, and then established Easypaisa as a common organization across the two companies. Second, Telenor Pakistan and Tameer Bank introduced over-the-counter (OTC) mobile money services – an entirely new model that did not require registration for an electronic wallet. And third, Easypaisa achieved rapid national expansion by relying exclusively on its existing GSM distribution structure.