National Savings receives international award for financial inclusion

ISLAMABAD: National Savings has been awarded for “Outstanding Contribution to Financial Inclusion Pakistan 2017” by the prestigious Capital Finance International (CFI) magazine awards programme in UK.

The international business awards program is adjudged by eminent internal and external panel of experts. Each year the CFI seeks out individuals and organizations that contribute significantly to the convergence of economies and truly add value for all stakeholders.

The awards programme aims to identify excellence to inspire others to further improve their own performance. More than 500 entries were received this year, from a wide array of public and private companies of all sizes, from a variety of organizations and geographic regions all over the world.

“National Savings has excelled in its category, showing fantastic prowess in digital innovation and creativity. National Savings will be honoured by CFI having an opportunity to deliver its message in print magazines which will be distributed in World Bank and other prestigious financial institutions all over the world” the expert panel stated.

In order to further the agenda of Financial Inclusion, National Savings has recently secured support from multilaterals, like World Bank, Karandaaz (DFID and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation) and USAID.

USAID has offered to extend technical assistance on Legal, human resources and product development to achieve smooth transition of the organisation to a corporation, while the support for technology upgrade is received from Karandaaz and the World Bank.

During the last twelve months, significant progress has been made on the automation initiative of National Savings as 204 out of 376 branches have automated setup now, increased from 59 branches a year ago.

Further, the road-map for technology upgrade will take the existing IT systems to the next level, offering ATM cards, internet and cell phone banking.

National Savings is department of Ministry of Finance with over 7.7 million customer accounts and 376 branches across Pakistan. Finance Minister Ishaq Dar has felicitated National Savings on the award.