News Update Times

Islamabad (Muhammad Yasir) Ufone has now eliminated the need for physical installation of SIMs with the introduction of eSIM for its customers. The Pakistani telecom operator has partnered with Giesecke+Devrient Mobile Security (G+D) to launch these SIMs across the country.  The Ufone eSIM platform enables subscribers with a compatible handset to integrate multiple SIM card numbers directly into their phones or IoT devices, using the internet.

Customers can also download data plans and remove old SIM profiles within the same device without having to physically switch their SIM cards. Ufone’s eSIM service is available across Pakistan.

Speaking on this occasion, Ufone’s Spokesperson said, “Our customers are now readily adopting environment friendly way of living thus it is important for us to provide them innovative solutions for day to day operations. By using Ufone’s eSIM, customers can experience seamless services in a sustainable manner and avoid use of plastic SIMs. At Ufone, customer satisfaction and ease is the utmost priority. Therefore, every possible step is being taken to ensure their convenience.”

This technology is available for a number of eSIM-enabled devices like laptops, tablets, wearables and IoT devices. It is also available for all handsets which are compatible with the function like iPhone 11, 12 and all its variants, including iPhone XS, XR and XS max which work as dual SIM Phones.

Samsung S21, Samsung S20 Series, Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G, Samsung Galaxy S20+, Samsung Galaxy S20, Samsung Z flip

Huawei P40 Pro, Huawei P40

Google Pixel 4 XL, Google Pixel 4, Google Pixel 3A XL, Google Pixel 3A

For this purpose, Ufone has partnered with Giesecke+Devrient Mobile Security (G+D), an industry leader in eSIM management with more than 95 million+ commercial eSIM/eUICCs Managed Embedded Universal Integrated Circuit Cards (EUICCs) for some of the biggest mobile operators and OEM in Asia, Europe, Americas, Middle East and Africa; to launch a fully-functional eSIM subscription management platform for its subscribers.

Ufone is one of Pakistan’s largest telecom service providers and is leading the country’s digital transformation with its innovative and customer-centric approach. Combined with its effort for seamless connectivity for all its subscribers across Pakistan, Ufone has constantly strived to promote digitalization and ease of contact for all, adhering to its moto ‘Tum he tou ho’.

Karachi (Muhammad Yasir) Shell V-Power is the premium fuel offered by Shell Pakistan, it comes with technology that reduces engine dirt and friction. With over 100 years of experience in fuels research and development, Shell’s scientists are behind the creation of Shell V-Power with Dynaflex Technology. 

Shell V-Power has a formulation that has powerful cleaning agents to prevent engine dirt. The fuel is especially designed to help reduce wasted energy through its friction reducing molecules.

The fuel was introduced in the Pakistani market in 2016, and this year marks its 5th anniversary in Pakistan. In the last 5 years, Shell has expanded its premium fuel network and as of now, 198 Shell Retail stations across Pakistan have Shell V-Power available for customers.

 

Islamabad (Muhammad Yasir) Faysal Bank Limited, Pakistan’s fastest growing Islamic Bank has launched “Noor” Card – a Shariah compliant alternative to conventional credit cards, facilitating its Islamic banking consumers with a range of benefits and Halal offers across various categories of spend – powered by Mastercard.

Taking the different needs of its customers into account, the Faysal Islami Noor card is available across several variants, from Platinum to Titanium, with each providing different levels of added benefits and features to cardholders for exclusive shopping, dining and traveling experiences.

Inching closer on its journey to complete Islamic conversion, Faysal Islami Noor is Pakistan’s first Islamic card based on Shariah principle of Tawarruq with 3D Secure, contactless payment and transaction services, leading its consumers to a hallway of premium Islamic lifestyle while also keeping their convenience of everyday life in check.

Commenting on this achievement of another milestone, Mr. Tahir Yaqoob Bhatti, Faysal Bank’s Head of Retail Banking, said, “The launch of Faysal Islami Noor card reaffirms our commitment to achieving leadership in providing Shariah-compliant financial and payment services to our customers. The launch of ‘Noor’ sets sail to a trailblazing initiative to the Bank’s credit, transforming the experience of Islamic banking customers. Now, Noor Card customers can use this Shariah compliant card with complete satisfaction and peace of mind, availing  a range of distinct reward systems and premium benefits within the strict umbrella of Shariah compliant banking practices and principles.”

Faysal Bank’s footprint now spreads over more than 200 cities with a network of over 575 (including more than 500 Islamic) branches. Faysal Bank is a significant player in Pakistan’s banking industry and recognized as the Best Emerging Bank 2020 of the country.”  

 

Karachi (Muhammad Yasir) Pak-Qatar Family Takaful held its Annual Conference in Karachi to celebrate 2020’s exceptional performance and to further align the team with strategic Business Growth plans for 2021 and beyond.

The conference was attended by Mr. Said Gul, Member-Board of directors, Mr. Zahid Awan, Member-Board of Directors, Mr. Kamran Saleem, Director Finance & Company Secretary, Mr. Azeem Pirani, CEO, Pak-Qatar Family Takaful along with senior management of the company.

Speaking at the occasion, Mr. Said Gul said, “It is indeed a day to celebrate and I would like to congratulate my team for their hard work and dedication towards achieving 2020’s business targets which has marked an all-time high in the company’s history since inception. The Takaful Distribution Team performed very well across Pakistan despite COVID-19 and is fully motivated to achieve business targets set for 2021”.  He further stated that, “much more coordinated efforts and smart workings are required to increase the number of memberships and offer convenience. Mr. Said Gul emphasized upon capturing digital medium and using digital technology with a customer-centric approach thus terming it as the key to sustainable business growth and success.

CEO PQFTL, Mr. Azeem Pirani said: “Pak-Qatar Family Takaful, as the first and largest Family Takaful operator, is viewed as the key influencer in the progression and advancements in the field of Islamic finance. Since inception to a franchise that boasts more than 100 locations across 90+ cities in Pakistan, is exceptional growth indeed and something we are all extremely proud of. Today’s gathering is a clear reflection of the Group’s commitment that we endeavor to strengthen and grow our business in this market.”

Top performing Takaful distribution representatives of Pak-Qatar Takaful for 2020 were applauded and presented mementos as a token of appreciation by the company.

Partnership signed to create new entrepreneurial ventures for eCommerce and digital trade to grow the domestic market size with knowledge-based learning platform.

Islamabad (Muhammad Yasir) Extreme Commerce Pakistan’s first EdTech company specializing in e-commerce and digital trade education and practices to train Pakistani youth to sell on Daraz platform. Extreme Commerce and Daraz signed a memorandum to improve eCommerce and digital trade literacy in the country.

Although, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) are working to introduce a platform that will facilitate Pakistani traders to exports their products seamlessly on global platforms such as Amazon, Alibaba, and eBay, the local traders are looking for an opportunity to explore the global markets enthusiastically.

As per the latest eCommerce numbers, released by the
 State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) upto Q3 2020 (Q1 FY21), the eCommerce market size for the year upto Q3 2020 was 96B PKR (assuming a 60% COD volume), prepayment was 39B over the same period. There are now 2,164 merchants who accept prepayment methods which is a large jump from the previous quarter. There are now 43k orders a day via prepayment method (in Q3 2020) on Pakistani merchants, which is up from 24k and 13k in the same quarter in 2019 and 2018. More eCommerce data can be found HERE.

The partnership between Extreme Commerce and Darza, will be imparting knowledge skills on how to sell on the Daraz platform more efficiently with maximum customer satisfaction and potential to grow. The arrangement will facilitate the sellers to expand their enterprise further and improve their online selling skills, including formation of businesses, creating stores, product branding and marketing. The Extreme Commerce’s Video Boot Camp (VBC) is a collection of 100+ E-Commerce and digital money-making skills in the world. VBC covers an extensive range of skills that builds and empower with eCommerce and digital trade skillsets to earn money by offering services to clients across the globe and setting up own businesses and stores on national and international eCommerce platforms. Through this MOU, the sellers and traders on Daraz will also benefit from the rich knowledge resource available on the VBC platform as well. The partnership will be catalytic for the eCommerce market to cross the Rs. 100 Billion eCommerce trade barrier in 2021.  

Sunny Ali, the Founder and Chief Executive officer of Extreme Commerce shared his views on the partnership and said, “Our first step is to start building capacity of the sellers on Daraz through our trainings and our state-of-the-art Video Boot Camp (VBC). Educating everyone with eCommerce dynamism on Daraz. We will be the bridge between Daraz sellers and Daraz with the Extreme Commerce’s knowledge repository as the learning platform. We can quickly relay issues, challenges and find solutions together. As this will help the sellers in the country to explore the eCommerce phenomenon as a knowledge-based economic growth model.

Extreme Commerce’s vision to make Pakistan a global e-commerce back-office hub has been acknowledged by international institutions as well. Extreme Commerce aims at developing a national e-commerce ecosystem through inspiring and empowering entrepreneurs. Being Pakistan’s largest e-commerce knowledge sharing and capacity building platform, Extreme Commerce has a community of more than half a million people nationwide. Whereas, Daraz believes in enabling local entrepreneurs and businesses to do business anywhere in this digital era and has a community of more than 70,000 sellers nationwide.

Omair Baksh, Head of Marketing at Daraz said, “Adaptability to e-commerce has increased in the past few months and an increased number of sellers are moving towards online selling to make a stable living for themselves. We take complete responsibility to train the seller community and equip them with the right skills for their business growth. Daraz has always focused on seller education as a core and with this partnership we are taking an additional step to create value for our sellers and buyers along with improving customer experience.

The cross-border Business to Consumer (B2C) e-commerce regulatory framework has also been developed by the SBP and the Web-Based One Customs (WeBOC) e-commerce module that the FBR is developing, would help facilitate online sales of exporting firms by allowing hassle-free documentation and shipment of export orders.

With this partnership Pakistani e-commerce enthusiasts will have access to customised courses designed for Daraz sellers that will focus on specialized training on digital trade, data analysis and other innovative solutions for business growth in ecommerce.

The success of any ecommerce business is highly dependent on customer experience that can be improved by many folds through capacity building of the seller base through education and awareness. A key battle for the ecommerce industry in Pakistan has stood to be customer trust which can be improved with ecommerce education, performance-based trainings and knowledge sharing by experienced mentors.

Extreme Commerce is Pakistan’s first EdTech start up with a sole focus on skills development and capacity building within the ecommerce and digital arena. Founded in 2017, it is the largest community of its kind in Pakistan, with well over half a million members and over 100+ courses and income streams to choose from. Extreme Commerce estimates that by 2025, it will foster a community of over 1 million strong, generating well over $1 billion in inward remittance for Pakistan.