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MCB launches world’s first socially connected Mobile Wallet

LAHORE: The Muslim Commercial Bank (MCB) has launched the world’s first socially connected Mobile Wallet backed by the powerful technology giant -VISA on the eve of New Year terming it an innovative package for its clients.
The commercial launch ceremony of MCB Lite held at MCB House Lahore.  MCB President & CEO Imran Maqbool, Group Head (Retail) Ali Kazmi, Digital Banking & Business Development Head Qasif Shahid, a large number of other stakeholders and media was present on this occasion.
In their marketing campaign they asked the public a thought-provoking question “are you getting the most out of your smart phone?” As it turns out, even though our phones are our most prized possessions, yet we fail to utilize them to their true and maximum potential.
With the launch of its new product MCB has promised to equip people to extract the most value out of the investment they have already made in their smart phones.
MCB believes, “the Mobile Wallet, simply put, is just like your real world wallet except that it’s intangible and in the ‘cloud’. It goes everywhere with you, yet you don’t have to carry it. You can load money in it digitally through your existing bank account and link it to your existing telecom provider and smart phone without any need for switching your phone/bank/telecom operator. Once the money is in, you can make payments free of charge, buy top-ups, pay bills, shop online, enjoy discounts and much more from anywhere in the world through a combination of the mobile wallet and Visa Card!”
People can also invite their friends, family and business partners to join-in by logging in and evoking the ‘pass-it-on’ function within the service. Sending invites through the wallet is as easy as sending a friends request on Facebook or any other social media.
MCB Bank Group Head (Retail) Ali Kazmi  said, “the Bank believes that the greatest benefits are derived from MCB Lite if it is established & practiced in social groups. It’s similar to operating and owning an email account or a fax machine. There is no point in having one if you are the only one with the machine or an email account as there will be no one to send or receive faxes or emails to.  In other words, the more acquaintances you have on MCB Lite the greater the benefit in terms of time saved and money saved through just-in-time, free person-to-person mobile initiated payments,” he added.
Speaking on the occasion, MCB Digital Banking & Business Development Head Qasif Shahid said, “Through our previous work in the mobile/digital payments space and working closely with Visa we have realized that the road to going viral, attaining scale and changing behavior hinges on creating payments solutions that are; bank, telecom & device independent, free of charge, interoperable and support frictionless onboarding processes. MCB Lite is built exactly on these 4 cardinal principles and we hope it revolutionizes the payment behavior of the masses in a top-down approach.”
MCB President & CEO Imran Maqbool said, “MCB Lite complements the excellent work that is already happening in the industry for financial inclusion. All of it has been possible due to the remarkable regulatory framework set-up by State Bank of Pakistan and initiatives so far led by telecom operators with the exception of one large bank.  Most of the players are operating at the bottom of the opportunity pyramid, with MCB Lite; we aim to play in the parts of the opportunity pyramid that remains largely unoccupied by others.”
In future, MCB plans to expand and strengthen their proposition by introducing innovative features and functions by keeping in line with their philosophy of co-creating products with their consumers
The launching ceremony concluded with an interactive question-answer session and positive note that  Pakistan is among a few countries of the world which are going to develop in this technology during coming four to five years because of being a member of club of English speaking countries and high level of teledensity. DT

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