U Microfinance Bank Limited has won the Asian Banking & Finance (ABF) Retail Banking Awards 2021 for “Rural/Cooperative Bank of the Year – Pakistan”.
With a gross absence of banking facilities in rural areas, winning the Rural Bank of the Year award recognizes U Bank’s efforts in ensuring the availability of modern banking to our core customer group.
U Microfinance Bank devotes itself to battling this disproportionate lack of financial inclusion in rural areas by serving the economically active poor, i.e. farmers, small entrepreneurs, and daily wagers. The needs of this customer segment are vastly different from the affluent customer segment residing in cities.
Amidst the ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic, U Bank takes immense pride in the fact that, against all odds, we took a determined stand to continue lending to our customers to keep them afloat.
Further, lending emergency loans against gold has helped communities monetize the dead assets. To further protect our customers, U Bank also issued micro-insurance to our rural customers which is the need of the hour.
On receiving this award, U Bank CEO and President, Mr. Kabeer Naqvi, said, “This acknowledgment encourages us to do more in times to come and move forward with new initiatives such as low-cost housing, and contributing to the economy with international remittances and Islamic banking.” Sharing his thoughts about the future engagements, Mr. Naqvi added, “Pakistan is one of the most vulnerable countries during the pandemic, and the greater vision of the bank is to work on water conservation, green energy, and climate change.”
Apart from considering the needs of rural communities, i.e. customers and employees, and despite the pressures of the pandemic, the bank has continued to set performance benchmarks in the sector.
About ABF Retail Banking Awards 2021
The Asian Banking & Finance Retail Banking Awards are held yearly and seek to honor outstanding banks that have introduced groundbreaking retail banking products and services that proved to be industry game-changers.
