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| Source: VMware. From left: Ahsan Khan, Country Sales Lead, VMware Pakistan and Afghanistan; Adrian Hia, GM, Nascent Markets & Vietnam; David Hale, US Ambassador to Pakistan; Abdul Rauf, EVP, IT Infrastructure, Meezan Bank; Raheem Eqbal, COO, New Horizon, Safder Merchant, Head, Commercial & Partners, Nascent Markets, VMware; Qaiser Sarwar, GM, Sales and Operations, New Horizon. |
VMware, a global player in cloud infrastructure and business mobility, has signed an agreement with Meezan Bank, Pakistan’s first and largest Islamic bank, to modernise the bank’s IT infrastructure across 571 branches in 146 cities of Pakistan. The agreement allows Meezan Bank to be expand into larger market segments and meet its growing business demands through IT.
Under the agreement, Meezan Bank can tap on VMware’s industry leading platforms to build and deliver IT solutions. With the modernised IT infrastructure enabled by a suite of VMware solutions including VMware vSphere with Operations Management, VMware vCloud Suite and VMware Site Recovery Manager, the bank aims to increase the performance and efficiency of the IT resources through virtualisation, speed up the delivery of solutions via private clouds, and strengthen the availability and mobility of critical applications.
“This is just one of the many steps Meezan Bank will be taking to play its part to support the State Bank of Pakistan’s efforts to make Pakistan’s financial sector a digital leader in the decade ahead and to maintain Pakistan’s position as a mobile-first nation,” said Faizur Rehman, Head of Information Technology and Digital Banking, Meezan Bank.
The partnership with VMware also means that the bank is now able to scale rapidly based on demand and significantly reduce its operational and ownership costs. With VMware’s consumer simple yet enterprise secure solutions, Meezan Bank’s modernised IT infrastructure allows the bank to respond faster to customer needs while elevating the security and reliability of its services across 571 branches.
“Meezan Bank is a key stakeholder in Pakistan’s commendable journey of digital transformation. The bank recognises how IT is able to not only create tangible business benefits, but new business opportunities as well,” said Adrian Hia, GM, Nascent Markets & Vietnam, VMware.
Meezan Bank is the 8th largest bank in Pakistan and the only Islamic bank with an AA credit rating in the Islamic banking industry in Pakistan. The bank provides a comprehensive range of Islamic banking products and services through a retail banking network of more than 570 branches, supported by a countrywide network of over 560 ATMs, Visa and MasterCard debit cards, a 24x7 call centre, Internet banking and mobile banking facility.
Meezan Bank has consistently been recognised as the Best Islamic Bank in Pakistan by numerous local and international institutions, including the South Asian Federation of Accountants, Islamic Finance Forum of South Asian Awards, the Employers Federation of Pakistan and CFA Association - Pakistan.