Overview
- The State Bank of Pakistan granted HugoBank a pilot operations licence on Wednesday, allowing the Karachi-based digital bank to run controlled live tests with a small group of customers.
- The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan approved issuing shares to sponsor shareholders on the same day, enabling a fresh equity injection of Rs1.5 billion.
- HugoBank will use the pilot to test its products, core systems, operational controls and customer experience while collecting feedback to fix issues before wider rollout.
- Sponsors, organised through Starlight Holdings, plan about $60 million in total capital and technology investment and the Rs1.5 billion injection moves the bank closer to meeting the SBP’s Minimum Capital Requirement for full commercial approval.
- The approvals follow the SBP’s digital bank framework introduced in 2022 and signal a step toward more app-based banking in Pakistan that could lower costs, boost competition and expand access for underserved customers.