ZoodPay, a prominent digital financing platform for e-commerce in the Middle East and Central Asia, has expanded into Pakistan by purchasing Karachi-based Tez Financial Services in its entirety (Tez). Tez, backed by investors such as Planet N, Flourish Ventures (Omidyar Network), and Accion, was the first FinTech in Pakistan to be granted a Non-Bank Financial Company (NBFC) licence in 2018 and has since carved out a specialised niche in the consumer lending space, providing nano-loans to Pakistan’s unbanked and underbanked masses. ZoodPay ( Buy Now, Pay Later) is establishing itself as a crucial new participant in Pakistan’s digital lending and FinTech industries with this purchase.
Michael Khoi, CEO of ZoodPay said, “Pakistan is a market brimming with potential given the number of people seeking access to credit facilities. We’re confident that by combining ZoodPay’s unique ecosystem and experience operating in frontier markets with Tez’s local know-how, strong team and ecosystem partnerships, we’ll be able to positively impact the life of Pakistani people and empower them by giving them access to easy, affordable and reliable digital financial services”
In Pakistan, less than 5% of people have access to formal credit. ZoodPay intends to address this issue with its B2B2C digital lending ecosystem. The company’s lending strategy is bolstered by three critical pieces of digital infrastructure:
(i) acquiring consumers and merchants through its diverse distribution channels, including its own e-commerce marketplace and network of retailers and partners;
(ii) obtaining rich transactional data from its internal universe of fintech, e-commerce marketplace, and logistics
(iii) utilising its proprietary credit scoring algorithms to assess credit risk and exclusion.
This dynamic ecosystem is augmented by the combined strengths of ZoodPay and Tez, with ZoodPay bringing its superior execution ability from regional markets with nearly 10 million users across five countries, and Tez bringing deep insights into digital consumer lending with a successful track record in mitigating default levels.
Naureen Hyat and Humza Hussain, Co-founders of Tez, say they are humbled and thrilled by the confidence shown in their business model by larger regional players. Tez is a Pakistani start-up which aims to make access to finance for the masses as easy as access to a mobile phone. Pakistani start-up. ZoodPay has raised $50 million to date, with participation from leading global and strategic investors. The company has launched its Series C round, part of the proceeds of which would be allocated to expand into Pakistan. Nadeem Hussain, Chairman of Tez said, “The Pakistani start-up ecosystem has hit its inflection point.
