We are proud to be backing Oraan, alongside Zayn Capital, Global Ventures, Graph Ventures, Hustle Fund and Resolution Ventures. Oraan, Pakistan’s first women-led and women-first fintech startup, helps serve those who have been excluded to exhibit a greater degree of financial independence. Through digitalising communities, they have simplified finance, empowering women and allowing money and savings to be achievable by everyone.

Helping the underserved practice a greater degree of financial autonomy and agency

Traditional gender roles in Pakistan consider men as the family breadwinners, while women typically take care of the household and children. Hence, the commonality is that women have no money to save and thus, no need for a bank account. However, in reality, it is accepted and even expected from women to save and manage money for their family needs.

Women are increasingly generating income of their own: a 2013-14 survey by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics found that 26% of women (about 15 million) participate in the labor force. And even when they do not earn an income, they are the ones managing the budget at home with the money received from a husband or adult children. But the female population is financially excluded. Pakistan has one of the largest unbanked populations in the world (following only China and India), with around 100 million people who don't have access to any basic financial services. Women are overrepresented among the unbanked in most economies, including Pakistan where only 7% of women have access to at least a basic bank account.

For this reason, after returning to Pakistan from studies and work abroad, Halima Iqbal and Farwah Tapal, co-founders at Oraan, decided to close the gender gap in financial services by creating a female-first neobank in their home country.

Oraan is offering a social lending platform - by leveraging ROSCAs (rotating savings & credit associations) and digitising them, Oraan provides access to liquidity otherwise not available, making it a social bank that includes credit, insurance, and savings. ROSCAs are great alternative financial vehicles that allow a group of individuals to act as an informal financial institution, where everyone contributes a set amount to a common fund on a regular basis, while one member can access the funds at each period. This is a well-known financial vehicle in Pakistan, with more than 40% of the Pakistani population already using ROSCAs within their communities, for example among family members, friends, and neighbors. To boost financial inclusion in Pakistan even more, Oraan's goal is to create a financial identity for each of its customers with the data and information they gather on the platform.

"Oraan was founded when we realised that the large majority of the Pakistani population struggles to access financial services simply because they are not designed for them,” Halima Iqbal, CEO at Oraan said.

Iqbal continued, “Constituting 50% of the population, women are the largest unbanked segment in Pakistan and have relied on informal financial tools like ROSCAs. By looking at gender-disaggregated data and digitising ROSCAs, we have an opportunity to serve those who have been excluded, to help them practice a greater degree of financial autonomy and agency.”

Being the first female-led FinTech in Pakistan, Halima and Farwah do not plan to stop there - Oraan hopes to introduce other financial products, expand in other local regions and become the leading neobank for the unbanked. When we met Halima and Farwah we were immediately captivated by their passion, charisma, and motivation to help Pakistani women to be more included in society. At Plug and Play, we are confident this amazing team will help millions of women build their financial identity and become financially included.