InstantPay: PayPal Alternative for Pakistan & MEA

InstantPay, a product of TheBC.com is said to be a PayPal alternative for Pakistan, Middle East, Africa and rest of the world where ecommerce infrastructure is yet to kick high gears.

When we say InstantPay would be PayPal alternative then it gonna have following features:

• You will have an online virtual account
• Deposit money into your online account,
• Redeem money through ATM cards
• Buy/Sell products/services online
• Transfer money online
• Interbank money transfer
• And of course more!

So just assume if you are enabled with above mentioned features, what else would you require being in Pakistan?

We know that InstantPay is going to offer you all these services, starting with a virtual online bank account that will offer all the luxuries of conventional bank account plus an ability to make and accept payments online.

Through sources we know that these virtual bank accounts will come with ATM cards, meaning that you will be able to withdraw money from any ATM in Pakistan or worldwide, thanks to InstantPay’s contract with international payment vendors.

This equation suggests that an individual will be able to sell products online, and get the money in cash format through nearby ATM. Sounds perfect given that InstantPay bank accounts will be audited for taxing through FBR exactly the way physical bank accounts are monitored, so money laundering is out of question.

We may not say any words on the procedures of the InstantPay as they will be kept secret till the launch in September 2010.

InstantPay will start with 50 invite only virtual accounts in the beginning. If you want to be one of lucky 50, simply fill a form here:  http://www.thebc.com/instantpay/intro.php

It merits mentioning here that TheBC.com, the parent company of InstantPay is headed by Sulaman Choudary, a young Pakistani who recently returned home after graduating from US.

In short, the news is – a Pakistani individual will be enabled to make/receive online payments from September 2010 onwards.

It’s too early to call InstantPay a threat for conventional banks, but Banks and EasyPaisa sure need to take this solution seriously.