Raqami Islamic Digital Bank has secured a commercial banking licence in Pakistan.
The Karachi-based lender is backed by the Kuwait Investment Authority, the sovereign wealth fund of Kuwait.
Pakistan Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif was quoted as saying by The Nation: “Pakistan and Kuwait are brotherly countries bound by decades of strong cultural, political, and people-to-people relations.
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“It is now time to further strengthen our economic and investment ties so that this relationship grows from strength to strength.”
Raqami Islamic Digital Bank was initially issued a restricted banking licence by the State Bank of Pakistan in May last year and has since completed its pilot operations.
At that time, Raqami said it plans to develop a technology platform that supports open APIs, banking-as-a-service (BaaS) capabilities, and automation.
The aim is to enable collaboration with fintech firms, telecom operators, and other partners. This infrastructure will support real-time, personalised, and Shariah-compliant digital financial services as the bank expands its operations.
Last week, the bank’s CEO, Umair Aijaz, indicated that Raqami intends to invest $100m over a coming five-year period as it enters the market.
The bank is targeting at least one million customers within three years and plans to focus services on small commercial lending.
“We are very excited to explore this opportunity of a digital bank in the small- and medium-sized enterprise space. Globally, it has already picked up with a lot of traction,” Aijaz said in an interview in Karachi.
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