I was the guest speaker at this year's mCommerce conference held at the Sheraton hotel in Karachi. The conference was sponsored by MCB and as always well organised by Total communications. I attended the event last year as well. (Read my comments about last year here)Two things struck me about this year's event:
Much more talk about real consumer successes.
The take-up and transaction volumes of both MCB and Easypaisa received a lot of attention. It was my impression that all of the delegates were excited about the inroads that these two companies have made and the milestones achieved by them. It seems as if they serve as an inspiration to other banks and mobile operators.
Collaboration between regulators
Both the banking and telecommunication regulators were prominent at this event. Both made excellent presentations during the same session and it seems as if a genuine intention to collaborate exist. This is a good sign for the future of mobile banking in Pakistan.
I had a sense that the participants were looking for business insights and that the mood was very much focused on finding business solutions rather than looking for maverick technology.