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TAG Fintech - Pakistan's First Truly Global Financial App

TAG Fintech is Pakistan's first truly global financial app, designed to cover all aspects of a user's financial life cycle. From bank accounts and Visa debit cards to employer payrolls, salary advances, savings accounts and neo-brokerage services - TAG intends to become an all-inclusive platform that unifies all banking services under one roof.

Talal Gondal, its founder, hails from Europe but moved to Pakistan to establish TAG after discovering the country's banking sector was outdated. According to him, 70% of Pakistanis don't have a bank account - something TAG hopes to change by offering customers three minutes easy account opening with no complicated paperwork required.

The fintech, valued at $100 million in its seed round in September last year, is among the most valuable startups in Pakistan and counts Liberty City Ventures, Canaan Partners, Y Combinator, Addition LP and Mantis Venture Capital as investors. On Monday it announced that it had been granted pilot approval by the State Bank of Pakistan to begin operating as an electronic money institution.

According to a press release, TAG plans on conducting pilot operations under SBP supervision and regulatory framework before launching its commercial service. Initially, users will be able to open mobile wallets and acquire debit cards using the TAG app which will be connected with a remittance service, as per a statement.

Furthermore, TAG app customers will have the ability to pay utility bills, recharge their phones and receive payments and ATM withdrawals from anywhere in the world through its TAG app. Furthermore, corporations have agreed to disburse salaries digitally into employees' TAG wallets.

TAG Fintech CTO Alexander Lukianchuk recently confirmed their plans to expand their services beyond North America, becoming a neobank. To accomplish these goals, TAG must combine high-quality innovative service with strict adherence to regulatory requirements and accounting rules, according to Profit magazine.

"Our vision is to revolutionize the industry by taking into account global trends in financial technology," he stated. The company is particularly focused on Pakistan, with a population of more than 225 million and growing rapidly.

This business model was built upon the idea that consumers can easily use their smartphones to access banking services. It provides a three-minute process for opening an account, along with access to various financial products.

Over the past few months, Pakistani startups have seen an uptick in funding rounds of multi-million dollars from both series and pre-seed investments. Examples include e-commerce startup Airlift which secured $85 million through Series B financing; trucking marketplace BridgeLinx which raised $10 million in seed funding; and EdTech startup Maqsad which received $2.1 million in pre-seed money.

Success attracted international investors, who are seeking to enter a market with millions of unbanked individuals. To date, the company has raised more than $12 million from both international and regional investors such as Liberty City Ventures and Canaan Partners.