- Raqami Islamic Digital Bank pioneering a Shariah-based, inclusive financial ecosystem in Pakistan
Interview with Mr. Nadeem Hussain — Founder, Raqami Islamic Digital Bank and Planet N Group
PAGE: Tell me something about yourself, please:
Nadeem Hussain: I had schooling at KGS and then went to the USA for further studies . I reinvented myself four times. I spent 27 years at Citigroup in 6 countries.
Eventually, I resigned and became an entrepreneur at the age of 48. I am Founder of Tameer Bank and Easypaisa. I sold that and became a tech disruption investor. Planet N has 36 companies in its portfolio. I was fortunate to get one of the five licences given by the SBP for digital banking. I am Founder of Raqami Islamic Digital Bank, a leading Shariah-based banking now.
PAGE: What are top brands/products of your organisation? Please elaborate with details:
Nadeem Hussain: Raqami Islamic Digital Bank is launching a unique model in Pakistan. Our pitch to our partners is that ‘ imagine you have received a Shariah-based digital bank licence without the capital or the SBP scrutiny. Our open API will provide lending, deposits, investments, payments and insurance . We will only service five segments. Some of them are SMEs , Agriculture under 5 acres, Women, Youth and the combination of blue collar, gig workers and freelancers .
PAGE: Could you share your experience of working on the top brands and sustaining them in the cutthroat competition in the industry?
Nadeem Hussain: In order to compete, a CEO has two to three main things: 01) surround himself/herself with people smarter but not necessarily wiser than himself/herself; 02) ensure that the staff is happy and respected; 03) use the customer lens for developing products and services.
This will automatically create a world class brand .
PAGE: Marketing a brand has morphed in the wake of social media and digitisation. What is your take on it?
Nadeem Hussain: To reach the masses, social media is now key. It provides the analytics to ensure the required ROI is met. This does not mean that the mainstream media has become redundant. Social media customer acquisition also materially reduces the customer cost of acquisition.