Entrepreneur Adil Saleem is preparing to introduce Zariah, a new fintech venture positioned as Pakistan’s first digital gold savings platform. The startup aims to make investing in 24-karat physical gold simple, transparent, and accessible to everyone — starting from as little as Rs500. Through Zariah, users will be able to purchase fractional gold units, track real-time market rates, and redeem their holdings at any time. It will also automate savings through round-ups, where everyday purchases are rounded to the nearest rupee and the balance is automatically invested, helping users develop consistent saving habits. The gold itself will be fully backed, stored in secure bank-grade vaults, and regularly audited to ensure transparency and trust.
Speaking to Business Recorder, Adil Saleem — who previously worked at Lumida Wealth in New York and Fountainhead Partnerships in Singapore — explained that Zariah is in its pre-launch phase. The company is in discussions with strategic partners and investors who align with its mission to formalize and simplify gold saving in Pakistan. He highlighted that the country’s savings culture, though deeply rooted, has long remained informal and inefficient. “Every Pakistani household understands the value of saving, yet our financial system hasn’t made it easy or rewarding for ordinary people to save in secure, accessible ways,” he said. With Pakistan’s domestic savings rate at only 7% of GDP and less than 1% of citizens participating in regulated capital markets, Zariah hopes to introduce a safe and regulated option for millions who currently rely on physical gold or unregulated dealers.
Saleem noted that gold remains Pakistan’s most familiar and culturally trusted store of value, with annual demand exceeding 40 tonnes, equivalent to roughly Rs1.4 trillion. Yet, most households store gold at home, which exposes them to risks such as theft and fraud. Zariah aims to solve this by offering secure storage and full transparency through digital verification. Saleem compared this innovation to recent progress in other asset classes, noting how REITs and fractional real estate ownership have reshaped property investment, while platforms like Finqalab have made stock investing more approachable, and fintech wallets such as NayaPay and SadaPay have simplified digital payments. “Gold, however, has remained largely untouched by digital transformation,” he said, emphasizing that Zariah intends to bridge this gap and bring formal structure to an informal sector.
Building user trust, Saleem added, is at the heart of Zariah’s model. “Trust is the foundation of Zariah. We’ve designed it to operate within Pakistan’s formal financial system, ensuring that customer savings are always backed by physical gold and transparent pricing,” he explained. The company plans to maintain daily reconciliations of its vaults and work only with credible financial institutions. Accessibility is another core principle: allowing users to begin investing with just Rs500 breaks down traditional barriers that limited gold ownership to those who could afford large denominations like a gram or a tola. “This makes gold savings possible for everyone — from students to professionals — and helps create a habit of disciplined saving,” Saleem said.
While gold will be the company’s primary focus at launch, Zariah plans to eventually expand into other Shariah-compliant savings and investment options, including silver. Saleem emphasized that gold should not be treated as a short-term trade but as a long-term savings tool that protects wealth against inflation, currency depreciation, and uncertainty. Citing historical data, he said gold has delivered an average 15.7% annual return in rupee terms since 1995, slightly higher than the KSE-100 index but with less volatility. “Gold’s true value lies in its stability — it’s a structural hedge, not a speculative asset,” he said.
At the pre-launch stage, Zariah has already attracted strong interest from young professionals and millennial savers through its early waitlist. Saleem described a shift in behavior, noting that Pakistanis now prefer saving in smaller, manageable amounts over time rather than making large one-off investments. With its focus on accessibility, safety, and transparency, Zariah seeks to modernize Pakistan’s gold savings culture — turning one of the nation’s oldest financial habits into a secure, digital-first experience.
Follow the SPIN IDG WhatsApp Channel for updates across the Smart Pakistan Insights Network covering all of Pakistan’s technology ecosystem.
