Pakistani operator Warid Telecom has teamed up with Bank Alfalah to launch a mobile money service. The service, Mobile Paisa, will initially enable users to make utility bill payments and secure money transfers across Pakistan. The operator said that it plans introduce further services in the near future.

Bank Alfalah is owned by the Abu Dhabi Group and operates 500 branches across 170 cities in Pakistan. Warid Telecom is also owned by the Abu Dhabi Group.

The two firms called on mobile financial services solutions provider Fundamo and cloud solutions provider Monet for the technology that underpins the deployment, which they claim is a first for Pakistan.

“Mobile Paisa has been designed keeping in view today’s financial needs,” said Younas Sheikh, chief commercial officer at Warid Telecom. “This service will provide a secure channel for daily financial transactions such as money transfer and payment of utility bills. This is what ‘Mobile Paisa’ set out to innovate and we will keep on adding to the amazing features.”

Amaar Naveed Ikhlas, head of branchless banking at Bank Alfalah, added : “In this era of modernisation and technical development, it is essential to digitise and hence enhance transacting convenience through a secure and swift system.”

The value of international money transfers made via mobile phones was set to exceed $10bn for the first time in 2013, according to Juniper Research. However, the cost and complexity of regulating cash transfer had led many service providers to focus exclusively on airtime top ups, the research firm reported.