Today we’ve reached a huge milestone, The State Bank of Pakistan has finally granted SadaPay approval to officially begin pilot operations.
Until now, we had been testing our app and debit card internally with friends and family under our “in-principle” approval, which was awarded to us by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) earlier this year. We know how eager everyone is to get their cards and we know this took a little longer than expected.
Now that we’ve gotten our systems and infrastructure working, we can finally start onboarding people from the waitlist. Under the pilot phase, we can onboard a maximum of 1,000 accounts. The first few users to get their hands on SadaPay cards will be members of the Founders Club, in the order of their waitlist position. Founders Club members would be receiving our limited-edition Black debit card.
“The pre-launch demand for SadaPay has exceeded all of our expectations and our team is totally blown away to see nearly 150,000 people on our waiting list. We can’t wait to have our users experience what we’ve built over the past year”, BRANDON TIMINSKY, FOUNDER & CEO OF SADAPAY
With the beta (or initial version) of the SadaPay app, users will be able to:
- Send and receive local transfers
- Receive remittance payments from overseas
- Use the virtual and physical debit card for local and international purchases
- Access card controls from the app
- Request free delivery of your physical debit card
Remember, this is just the beginning, we’ll be adding more features very soon via regular app updates
As we always say, we’re building SadaPay together with our users. During the pilot phase, we’ll be in close contact with every single beta-tester for feedback, which will help provide direction for our product development team. It’s incredibly important for us to learn from our very first users, get their suggestions, and further improve the SadaPay experience.
“It is heartening to see the State Bank of Pakistan so eager to unlock the true potential of digital payments in the country. SadaPay has always been a mission-driven company with a focus on improving lives and I couldn’t be more excited to witness the impact this proposition can have on our economy.”, DR. WAQAR MASOOD KHAN, CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD OF SADAPAY.
The pilot approval took slightly longer than expected, so our launch timeline is getting a minor update.
We’ll need to operate under the supervision of the State Bank of Pakistan for a minimum of 60 days. Once we’ve met certain requirements, we’ll undergo an inspection where SBP will review all our systems to ensure we’re in compliance. Upon clearing the inspection, we’ll be given the full commercial license approval. Rest assured, our team will be firing on all cylinders to get to our public roll-out and onboard everyone.
As this year comes to an end, we have to reflect with pride on everything the team has accomplished. Securing the in-principle approval, closing our partnership with Mastercard, scaling from a team of 5 up to a team of over 50, and making the first live transaction from the app – there has been so much to celebrate. Next year, we look forward to sharing all this work with our community at scale and we hope SadaPay truly simplifies your money matters.
