ITU to open first ever FinTech center in Pakistan

Information Technology University (ITU) and Digital Financial Services Research Group (DFSRG) University of Washington (Seattle, USA) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to establish a pioneering FinTech center in Pakistan.

The agreement was signed by Dr. Umar Saif, Vice Chancellor Information Technology University (ITU) along with Dr. Richard Anderson, Head DFSRG and Professor, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, University of Washington. The aim of the research center is to take Pakistan forward in financial technology space by adopting digital financial services countrywide.

Under the agreement, a collaborative research will be conducted in areas of cybersecurity, authentication, fraud prevention, financial education, financial management, data analytics, and customer experience studies in digital financial services. The FinTech center will also promote the digitization of Government-to-Person (G2P) and Person-to-Government (P2G) payments in Pakistan.

Dr. Richard Anderson said that it was the first ever collaboration in the World with Pakistan, which will be extended to the Africans and other Asian countries. Dr. Umar Saif stated that it would facilitate the smartphone transactions and establish transparency in the system.

DFSRG is a research group at Washington University supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. It aims to improve the abilities of banks and mobile operators by deploying Digital Financial Service (DFS) products and providing technological solutions.