Dubai fintech and Pakistani ecommerce platform launch a buy now pay later service for overseas Pakistanis

Rise, a Dubai-based fintech that provides financial services to low-income migrants in Gulf (and recently raised $1.4 million in a round led by the Middle East Venture Partners) has teamed up with one of Pakistan’s leading ecommerce platform HomeShopping.pk to launch a buy now pay later service for overseas Pakistanis residing in the United Arab Emirates.

The partnership which Rise says is the first of its kind in the world will enable overseas Pakistanis in the UAE (and rest of Gulf) to buy different products including mobile phones, home appliances, laptops, and watches in (AED) installments and have the product(s) delivered to their loved ones in Pakistan.

“Buy Now, Pay Later propositions have to date only been available for purchases locally and migrants have largely had no access to such means,” said Rise in a statement.

The products are available on a newly made section of Rise’s website where users can browse them, sign up for an account and get instant approval for the purchases. A quick scan of the website suggests that for now only those who are Rise’s members already (or have been pre-approved by the platform for this financing) can use the service.

For those who are not pre-approved either have to be invited by someone who is or request approval by getting on the waitlist.

All the purchases, the website suggests, will include a one-time processing fee and interest from 10 to 20 percent depending on the buyer’s profile. The purchases are delivered by HomeShopping.pk.

“Pakistan has one of the largest diasporas in the world, with almost 9 million overseas Pakistanis sending home USD 22 billion every year accounting for 7% of the GDP of the country. This partnership taps into this remittance pool and gives Pakistani migrants the ability to acquire a wide range of durable goods in an affordable manner,” noted the statement by Rise.

Rise’s current services for migrant workers include bank accounts that don’t require a minimum balance or salary, remittances, insurance products and consumer loans in both the UAE and migrant home countries.

Padmini Gupta, the co-founder and CEO of Rise, commenting on the occasion, said, “From day one, we have set out to democratize access to financial services for migrants. This partnership takes us one step closer to that goal. There are over 3 million Pakistanis living in the Gulf, the vast majority of which have never had the ability to make purchases back home on installments. Today we are changing that.”

Shayaan Tahir, founder and CEO of HomeShopping.pk, said, “We are delighted to expand our reach to bring easy installment purchases for overseas Pakistanis. During these challenging times when our fellow Pakistanis are not able to travel back home, especially for Eid, we are pleased to offer them a means to take care of their loved ones back home.”