Earned wage access fintech Paymenow has partnered with Neem, a Pakistani financial services provider, to roll out the Shariah-compliant offering Neem Paymenow in Pakistan.
Earned wage access (EWA), also known as on-demand pay, enables workers to access a portion of their earned wages before payday.
Paymenow was established in 2019 by former Springbok Bryan Habana, who serves as chief client officer, and Deon Nobrega, group CEO, to provide EWA as a financial wellness offering to South Africans.
In 2023 the company raised a R250 million debt facility through Rand Merchant Bank and has successfully launched the service in Namibia, Uganda, and Zambia, with ongoing expansion plans in Africa and abroad.
The firm saw an opportunity to scale the business in Pakistan to sectors such as retail, logistics, healthcare, and manufacturing. Pakistan faces similar socio-economic conditions to South Africa in terms of economic inequality and access to quality and affordable financial services.
“With a population of approximately 240 million, primarily composed of blue-collar workers in an underserved and underbanked market, we see clear parallels to our existing operations in Africa,” says Nobrega.
In the South Asian country, only 2.5% of the population has access to formal credit sources, leaving a huge number of people financially underserved.
The solution for this market, Neem Paymenow, was developed in collaboration with Pakistani financial services provider, Neem, which has developed a banking-as-a-service platform that enables digital businesses to offer embedded financial services to underserved customers.
The collaboration came about through Paymenow and Neem’s shared investor,the DNI Group.
Neem Paymenow will enable users to access up to 40% of their salaries. The platform is accessible in both Urdu and English and includes gamified educational modules covering essential topics like savings, budgeting, and fraud prevention.
Neem Paymenow is ISO27001 certified and GDPR compliant. The company says it prioritises security due to handling sensitive payroll data, performs annual penetration tests, and ensures necessary precautions and safety measures are in place to prevent breaches.
Deon Nobrega, Paymenow’s CEO, said, “We have seen significant success in South Africa, an emerging market where Paymenow addresses critical financial challenges faced by many employees. While we are excited about exploring new markets, we remain fully committed to South Africa as our primary focus. Ensuring that Paymenow continues to grow its presence here is central to our long-term strategy.”
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