Islamabad, May 2: Karandaaz Pakistan, a leading impact investment platform committed to promoting sustainable economic growth and financial inclusion in Pakistan, has announced a strategic partnership with Vizpro – a technology-driven fintech platform that is transforming the “Middle Mile” of Pakistan’s FMCG retail ecosystem.
This collaboration is set to address long-standing inefficiencies in the country’s FMCG retail landscape by reducing reliance on cash-based transactions and providing small and medium-sized merchants with access to formal financial services. The initiative aims to build digital financial identities for unbanked retailers, integrate payment and credit solutions, and foster greater resilience, transparency, and growth across the retail value chain.
“This initiative is a bold step towards formalizing Pakistan’s vast informal retail sector by enabling small retailers to build digital financial identities,” said Waqas ul Hasan, CEO of Karandaaz. “By adopting an all-digital approach, the project aims to demonstrate the efficiency and scalability of servicing micro and small enterprises – setting a precedent for ecosystem-wide innovation in inclusive finance.”
Vizpro, through its digital platform Vizlink, has already onboarded over 13,000 merchants in Lahore, digitized PKR 5 billion in merchant-to-distributor (M2D) payments, and developed a thriving branchless banking agent network. The platform collaborates with leading financial service providers including Easypaisa and JazzCash, and recently entered a financing enablement partnership with CreditBook. Leading FMCG brands such as Pakistan Tobacco Company are already working with Vizpro to digitize their trade and sales operations.
With Karandaaz’s support, Vizpro will now scale its reach to an additional 16,000 FMCG retailers across Tier 2 cities in Punjab and Karachi. The Vizlink platform offers a bundled suite of services, enabling retailers to place orders, make digital payments to distributors, and access short-term working capital – all within one ecosystem.
A notable addition to the initiative is the integration of Raast QR, allowing retailers to accept instant digital payments from customers. This move is expected to accelerate Pakistan’s transition toward a cash-lite economy by reducing friction in informal cash handling and deepening financial inclusion at the last mile.
“We started by solving the cash management problem between retailers and distributors, and ended up creating a complete supply chain solution with digital payments, merchant finance, and a robust communications platform,” said Akbar Ayub Khan, CEO and Co-Founder of Vizpro. “Our partnership with Karandaaz has been transformative and will inspire wider adoption of digital tools and attract further investment into the sector.”
“With this partnership, we are scaling a successful pilot to digitize M2D payments across major cities,” added Sharjeel Murtaza, Chief Digital Officer at Karandaaz. “More importantly, we’re demonstrating how fintech innovation can address the working capital gap for small merchants – bringing order management, payments, and financing onto a single platform.”
This initiative represents more than just a technological upgrade – it sets a powerful example of locally driven, scalable fintech innovation aimed at formalizing economic activity and catalyzing grassroots-level transformation in Pakistan’s retail sector.
