Digitt Plus, a Pakistani fintech focusing on enabling agricultural productivity, is developing Shariah compliant services to be offered under its soon-to-be launched super app, Ahmed Saleemi, CEO of Digitt Plus, told ISFI, the sister publication of IFN Fintech.
“We received the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP)’s approval for our pilot project in December, and now we are working on creating a financial super app that follows Shariah law and solves the main financial problems faced by farmers and agri-communities,” Ahmed shared.
Ahmed noted that farmers are often resistant to interest-based models, which is what most existing products are based on. As such, the development of Shariah compliant offerings is crucial.
Digitt Plus is powered by ATF, which is a joint venture between Akhtar Group, Fuiou Pay and JollyChic. Akhtar Group is one of the largest local conglomerates, with sugar mills, Pepsi bottling and distribution and textile mills.
The Shanghai-based Fuiou Pay, with 75 intellectual property licenses, four patented softwares and a patent for innovation and standard patent for mobile terminals, will be the technological driver for the ‘Digitt+’ super app platform.
The super app will be a digital wallet under ATF’s electronic money institutions license and will enable farmers to avail financial services including payment of utility bills, purchase of fertilizers and access to credit digitally.
Receiving the approval from the SBP for its pilot project on the 16th December 2022, Digitt Plus is set to commence its pilot project in the first week of February this year with the goal to be ready for commercial operations by the end of 2023.
“We are starting off at one of the largest sugar mills in Pakistan and we are focusing on delivering payment solutions to sugar cane farmers. We will be providing services to a limited number of consumer segments,” Ahmed detailed about the pilot project.
The fintech is targeting customers across different agri-based use cases and marketing channels. Its tailored digital awareness campaigns have been in effect since it received the SBP’s approval for the pilot. Ahmed shared that Digitt Plus will be deploying sales and digital acquisition campaigns shortly.
According to the fintech, roughly 60% of Pakistan’s documented population resides in rural regions with the agricultural sector consisting of 38.5% of the nation’s labor force and contributing to over 22.7% of its GDP.