Pakistan’s NIFT, M10 Partner on B2B Payments

Pakistan’s National Institutional Facilitation Technologies (NIFT) has teamed up with M10 Networks to facilitate digital B2B payments inside the country and improve cross-border transfers.

According to an April 22 news release from the two entities, the partnership was developed in response to last year’s overhaul of Pakistan’s tax laws by the nation’s Board of Revenue, requiring companies to make digital payments on expenditures greater than 250,000 rupees, or $1,331.

Based in San Mateo, California, M10 is a digital currency platform that gives banks a platform to tokenize commercial bank money, central bank money and digital currencies and offer fast, low-cost and secure B2B payments alongside instant, round-the-clock cross-border transactions.

NIFT is a joint venture by six Pakistani banks and entrepreneurs established in 1995, and serves as an electronic platform for clearing, processing, routing and switching of electronic transactions in Pakistan.

The partnership will see NIFT serve as local operator for the M10 platform, using its shared hierarchical ledger and digital authorization technology to approve digital payments. NIFT will settle digital payments using its settlement mechanisms, complying with local regulations.

Pending regulatory approval, M10 and NIFT will collaborate with nine local participating banks to allow for the authorization of commercial payments between commercial entities in Pakistan.

“NIFT continues to play a vital and proactive role in modernizing Pakistan’s payment system,” NIFT CEO Haider Wahab said in the release. “We are committed to delivering an efficient, swift, secure, and convenient inter-bank payment system in which economic growth can further thrive.

“This new partnership with M10 Networks opens a range of exciting new possibilities for Pakistan’s payment infrastructure and puts it at the cutting edge of innovation in this space.”

See also: NIFT, Haball Collab On New Rail To Digitize B2B Payments In Pakistan

The partnership comes almost two years after NIFT joined forces with B2B FinTech Haball for a new contextual railroad to help boost B2B payments in Pakistan.