Islamabad: In a significant step toward strengthening small business financing in Pakistan, ABHI Microfinance Bank has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with DigiKhata, a leading digital ledger platform used by small and medium enterprises (SMEs), to enable structured financing solutions for businesses operating on DigiKhata’s platform.

The partnership is designed to connect digitally active SMEs with formal financial services, allowing eligible merchants and businesses on DigiKhata to access financing through ABHI Microfinance Bank. By combining DigiKhata’s digital business ecosystem with ABHI’s regulated banking infrastructure, the collaboration aims to help SMEs unlock working capital and accelerate business growth.

DigiKhata’s platform, widely used by small retailers and traders to manage sales, credit, and inventory records, generates digital transaction trails that can support more informed credit assessment. Through this integration, ABHI Microfinance Bank will be able to extend financing solutions to SMEs based on structured evaluation processes, bringing more businesses into the formal credit landscape.

Industry experts note that access to timely working capital remains one of the biggest barriers to SME growth in Pakistan. By embedding financial services within digital platforms already used by businesses, such partnerships are helping bridge the gap between informal trade and formal banking channels.

The initiative is expected to support business expansion, inventory management, and cash flow stability for small merchants, enabling them to scale operations with greater financial confidence. The move also aligns with broader efforts to promote financial inclusion by bringing underserved business segments into the documented economy.

The MoU was formally signed by Mariam Pervaiz, Chief Communications Officer, ABHI Microfinance Bank, and Adnan Aslam, Chief Executive Officer, DigiKhata. Also present at the ceremony was Kabeer Naqvi, Entrepreneur in Residence at ABHI Financials, along with representatives from both organisations.

Mariam Pervaiz, CCO, ABHI Microfinance Bank, said the collaboration reflects the Bank’s focus on empowering small businesses through technology-driven finance. She said, “SMEs are the backbone of Pakistan’s economy, yet many remain outside the formal financial system. By partnering with DigiKhata, we are meeting businesses where they already operate digitally and enabling access to responsible financing that can help them grow, stabilise cash flows, and scale sustainably.”

Adnan Aslam, CEO, DigiKhata, highlighted the importance of linking digital record-keeping with access to capital. Aslam said, “Small businesses today are generating valuable financial data through digital tools, but access to formal credit has often remained out of reach. This partnership with ABHI Microfinance Bank creates a pathway for merchants on DigiKhata to turn their digital activity into financial opportunity, supporting the next phase of their growth.”

The partnership signals a broader shift in Pakistan’s financial landscape, where digital platforms and banks are increasingly working together to build inclusive financial ecosystems that support entrepreneurship, economic resilience, and business formalization.

United Bank Limited (UBL) has successfully completed a large-scale core banking data migration with AUTON8 in six months, transitioning data from Ex-Silkbank’s Temenos T24 core banking system to UBL’s Symbols platform.

The program encompassed customer accounts records across 105 branches and was executed with zero critical data loss within six months, ensuring complete accuracy, reconciliation, and uninterrupted operational continuity.

The initiative addressed significant technical challenges, including high-volume data processing within restricted banking windows, complex mapping across account structures, branch codes, customer identifiers, and GL/symbol hierarchies, as well as the remediation of legacy data quality issues. To accelerate repeatable conversion cycles and reduce cutover risk, AUTON8 utilised MORPH to configure governed transformation logic between source and target structures, enabling the rapid refinement of mapping rules across dry runs with consistent outcomes carried into the final migration.

Sohail Aziz, Chief Information and Digital Officer at UBL, said: “Executing a migration of this scale required precision, strong governance, and absolute confidence in data integrity. The program was delivered through disciplined planning, multiple validation cycles, and minimal operational disruption. This successful outcome strengthens our core banking foundation and supports UBL’s long-term objectives around stability, scalability, and digital modernization.”

Farasat Ali Naqvi, EVP Core Banking at UBL, added: “The successful completion of this migration within 6 months represents a significant milestone for UBL. AUTON8 MORPH proved to be a game-changer for us — with its no-code, governed and traceable transformation approach made it possible to deliver this outcome at speed. AUTON8’s structured execution ensured data integrity, minimized operational risk and enabled a smooth post-migration transition.”

 Ali Raza, Chief Operating Officer at AUTON8, said:  “This project reflects AUTON8’s strength in delivering mission-critical banking transformations under tight timelines. Migrating customer records across 105 branches between two entirely different core banking systems, while ensuring zero critical data loss, demonstrates our automation-led execution and deep banking domain expertise. AUTON8 MORPH—our no-code transformation platform—enabled governed, fully traceable mapping and conversion at scale, which is how we delivered within such a compressed timeframe.”

The successful delivery of this project reinforces AUTON8’s position as a trusted transformation partner for large-scale banking data migrations, enabling financial institutions to modernize core platforms while safeguarding accuracy, resilience, and customer continuity.

It is pertinent to mention here the merger of the United Bank Limited and Silk Bank took place last year under the supervision of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).