Pakistan’s Bykea expands further into payments, launches Bykea Cash

Pakistani motorbike-based ride-hailing and logistics startup Bykea that had raised a $5.7 million Series A last year, is expanding further into payments with the launch of Bykea Cash, a service that allows users to top-up their mobile wallets and pay their utility bills using cash, without leaving their homes, it told MENAbytes earlier this week.

Bykea Cash that has been rolled out in Karachi and Lahore allows users to pay their electricity bills, transfer money to a bank account and top-up their mobile wallets (Easypaisa, Jazz Cash) using cash through Bykea’s mobile app. After the transaction is initiated on the app, Bykea sends a partner to collect the cash from user’s doorstep and once it is completed, the user is notified on the app.

The Karachi-based startup appears to be charging PKR 70 which less 50 cents as a flat fee for any transaction initiated through Bykea Cash. Bykea is offering this in partnership with the utility companies, some banks, and the companies behind mobile wallets.

“Instead of looking to disrupt banks, fintechs need to work with them and make person-to-person and business-to-consumer payment collection seamless, easy and truly convenient. With a bank’s reliability and fintech’s innovation, the two can complement each other and become allies,” Bykea explained in a statement, adding that its new service is not looking to replace the banking institutions.

Bykea’s co-founder and CEO Muneeb Maayr, commenting on the occasion, said, “The offering is aimed at solving a small business’ working capital issues by putting money faster into their bank accounts. The whole process would take about five minutes with a Bykea representative visiting you in person.”

“The business community and the technology community need to come in, and essentially leverage the infrastructure that banks already have,” he added.