Artificial Intelligence in Digital Payments
Karandaaz Pakistan is pleased to announce a Call for Applications to showcase Artificial Intelligence (AI) implementation in the country’s digital payments ecosystem. The intervention seeks AI enabled solutions that improve front-end user experience and back-end operations, with potential to enhance security, efficiency, credit access, and customer experience. We aim to support entities applying AI at scale, in pilot stage, or through proof-of-concept experiments that demonstrate significant impact across Pakistan’s payments landscape.
Last date to submit applications is October 25, 2025
Thematic Areas
Efficient Onboarding
Digital onboarding journeys leveraging AI for automated document verification, biometric validation, fraud detection, and reducing drop-offs to make customer acquisition seamless.
Customer Behavior & Experience
AI-driven personalization, conversational commerce, autonomous payments, product recommendations, and predictive insights to improve financial inclusion and the ease of doing business.
Risk & Fraud Management
Advanced anomaly detection, dynamic risk profiling, reconciliation automation, and dispute resolution to enhance transaction security and consumer trust.
Savings & Credit Enablement
Expanding credit access and savings products through Al-based bill aggregation insights, credit profiling, and product recommendations.
Who Can Apply?
Proposals are invited from a broad spectrum of organizations, including fintech and startups developing AI enabled payment solutions; banks, EMIs, PSPs, PSOs, and NBFIs integrating AI into their payment processes and user journeys; technology providers with AI capabilities in fraud detection, personalization, or system integration; and collaborative partnerships between financial institutions and AI innovators. Preference will be given to proposals that:
- Demonstrate replicable and scalable AI use cases.
- Provide evidence of measurable improvements in fraud reduction, onboarding efficiency, credit access, or customer retention.
- Show strong alignment with Pakistan’s regulatory and compliance frameworks.
- Integrate inclusive strategies, especially solutions targeting women-led or underserved customer segments.
- Commit to responsible AI practices, ensuring transparency, fairness, and data privacy.
Proposal Development Workshop
Access the Presentation presented during the Proposal Development Workshop here.
Key dates
October
1
Applications open
October
14
Proposal Development Workshop
October
25
Applications deadline
Access the Presentation presented during the Proposal Development Workshop here.
FAQs
The shortlisting criteria will be based on:
- Innovation and business model viability of the AI solution
- Impact and scale potential within Pakistan’s payments ecosystem
- Inclusivity, particularly outreach to underserved or women-led segments
- Technical capability and expertise of the applicant team
Further details are provided in the Terms of Reference (TOR).
An Evaluation Committee of Karandaaz will assess and score the shortlisted proposals. Depending on the case, applicants may be invited to present their solution directly to the Committee before final selection.
The grant amount will depend on the design, scale, and expected impact of the proposed project. Successful proposals may be allocated funding starting from PKR 15 million. The final grant amount will be determined by Karandaaz after rationalization of the proposed costs.
Applicants may submit their proposals either by emailing them to programofficedfs@karandaaz.com.pk with the subject line “Proposal Submission – AI in Digital Payments”, or through the online application form provided on this page before the stated deadline
No. For the purpose of this Call for Application, Karandaaz will not take any equity in the selected entities.
All clarifications and responses to submitted queries will be published here. A Proposal Development Webinar will also be made available for further guidance. For any additional queries, please write to programofficedfs@karandaaz.com.pk
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