Tez Financial Services, a Pakistan-based fully digital Non-Bank Microfinance Company (NBMFC), announced on Friday it secured $1.1 million in a seed round led by Omidyar Network, the impact investment firm established by eBay founder, Pierre Omidyar, with participation from Accion Venture Lab, the seed-stage investment initiative of global nonprofit Accion, and Planet N.
Founded in 2016, Tez Financial Services describes itself as an NBMFC that aims to provide frictionless financial access to the unbanked and under-banked population through a smartphone application, driven by powerful algorithms and artificial intelligence. The company reported that it uses some of the latest technologies, such as artificial intelligence, to analyze consumers’ digital footprint trends, social behavior, and consumption patterns in order to customize its offerings to meet each individual’s needs through an all-encompassing mobile app, as follows:
- Cater to short-term liquidity needs through Tez Advance
- Enable to park funds in short-term savings avenues through community-led savings (Digital ROSCAs) through Tez Committee
- Provide security and protection via health and term-life insurance Tez Bima
- Economically empower to grow wealth by investing in tailored investment plans through Tez Sarmaya
Tez also reported that it integrated with EasyPaisa, UBL Omni, and SimSim as its branchless banking partners, resulting in the largest combined agent network for its customers. Tez has partnered with insurance companies, EFU Life and Jubilee General, to provide life and health coverage. Speaking about the investment, Kabir Kumar, head of Policy and Ecosystem Building at Omidyar Network, shared:
“Tez is leveraging this to push the boundaries of banking in the country with an all-digital offering. Tez’s diverse team is also well-positioned to bring about the products and services that really speak to the next generation of consumers in that country.”
Tez added it will soon launch additional products that will help further advance financial inclusion in Pakistan.