The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan has approved a new Shariah-compliant digital financing product specifically designed to improve access to capital for women entrepreneurs, addressing one of the more persistent structural gaps in Pakistan’s financial inclusion landscape through a mobile application-based delivery model.
The product, named Khud Mukhtar Khatoon, will be introduced by Walee Financial Services and will provide asset financing ranging from Rs. 100,000 to Rs. 1.5 million for the purchase of machinery, equipment, and other business-related assets. Women entrepreneurs will be able to apply directly through the Hakeem mobile application and repay the financing in equal monthly installments over a one-year period, making the entire process accessible from a smartphone without requiring visits to a branch or financial office. The fully digital nature of the product removes several of the friction points that have historically made formal financing difficult for women-led small businesses to access, including geographic distance from banking infrastructure, time constraints around in-person application processes, and the procedural complexity of conventional loan documentation.
The Securities and Exchange Commission stated that enhancing women’s financial inclusion and supporting entrepreneurial independence remain key regulatory priorities, framing the approval of Khud Mukhtar Khatoon as part of a broader institutional commitment to creating financial products that address the specific needs of underserved segments of Pakistan’s economy. The regulator also noted that lending non-banking financial companies disbursed Rs. 111 billion in financing between July and December 2025, benefiting nearly 7.5 million micro and small businesses during that six-month period, illustrating the scale at which digital and non-bank financing channels are already reaching businesses that fall outside the conventional banking system.
The introduction of a dedicated Islamic financing facility for women entrepreneurs through a mobile application represents a meaningful convergence of several policy priorities at once, combining Shariah compliance with digital accessibility, gender-focused financial inclusion, and support for small business asset acquisition. For women-led enterprises that have been unable to access capital through traditional banking channels, the combination of a mobile-first application process, Islamic financing structure, and a clear monthly repayment framework offers a more practical and culturally accessible path to the equipment and machinery investment that many small businesses need to grow.
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