News

Pakistan links its 2 ATM networks

March 17, 2004

KARACHI, Pakistan - Ishrat Husain, the governor of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), inaugurated the interconnectivity of the country's two ATM switches, Mnet and 1-Link, at a ceremony on March 16.

According to a Pakistan Daily Times report, with interswitch connectivity ATM and debit cardholders of any bank can access their accounts for cash and account information from the ATM of any bank in the country.

Husain called the interswitch connectivity "a major milestone."

He said, "This is just the beginning in plastic money, online banking and you (banks) would have to provide better facilities to their customers." He urged banks to keep customer charges low so that all cardholders will use services such as ATMs.

Mohammad Aftab Manzoor, president and chief executive of the Muslim Commercial Bank (MCB), on behalf of Mnet, said that MCB has been investing over the years to make the switch platform more secure and robust and also to enhance its capability to handle higher transaction volumes, which will benefit Mnet's 18 member banks.

According to a News International report, Meezan Bank Ltd recently signed an agreement to join the country's other network, 1-Link Switch Network, increasing its members to 13.

The addition of Meezan Bank brings 1-Link Switch's combined network to 314 ATMs in 25 cities. By the end of 2004, this figure is expected to increase to more than 400 ATMs, according to News International.