SECP Approves Digital Lending for Women Entrepreneurs

The country's first fully digital financing product has been approved for women-led micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) by the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) to enhance financial inclusion and empower women entrepreneurs.

The new scheme has been designed by the licensed non-banking finance company (NBFC) Walee Financial Services and is named “Khudmukhtar Khatoon”. The product aims to offer Shariah compliant asset financing in an easy and hassle-free manner to women entrepreneurs without involving lengthy paperwork and physical visits.

The SECP said the program was launched in line with the financial institution's overall goal of increasing women entrepreneurs' access to formal financial services given that they have limited access to credit facilities offered by traditional financial institutions.

According to the scheme, women entrepreneurs who are eligible for the scheme will be given the facility of financing of Rs100, 000- Rs1.5 million “on credit assessment”. The funding will be offered via Walee Financial Services' digital lending application – Hakeem – which will enable the lending process to be undertaken online, from the application and approval stages.

The approved funds will be dedicated to asset purchases related to the business through an integrated digital marketplace that is available in the Hakeem platform, a marketplace that will not be found in traditional financing products. After purchase, the procurement of selected assets will be transferred directly to the borrower's registered address, making procurement easier and ensuring that the fund used is used for productive business activities.

Key Highlights:

• SECP approves Pakistan's first digital financing product exclusively for women-led MSMEs
• 'Khudmukhtar Khatoon' offers fully digital, Shariah-compliant financing from Rs100,000 to Rs1.5 million
• The initiative aims to boost financial inclusion and expand formal credit access for women entrepreneurs

The financing facility provides a term of up to 12 months, with equal monthly payments. This structure is expected to enable women-led businesses to run their businesses in a manner that will enable them to manage their cash flow well and invest in equipment and other productive assets required for the growth and expansion of their businesses.

The SECP hailed this approval as a key step in its current initiatives to further improve financial inclusion and promote entrepreneurship among women. Lack of access to formal financing has been recognized as one of the key areas of concern for women-owned MSMEs, especially in developing countries where collateral needs and financial history are a constraint on borrowing.

Currently, Walee Financial Services is an investment finance company and digital nano-financing through the mobile platform. The company is also expanding its business beyond consumer financing into the MSME segment by the approval of Khudmukhtar Khatoon, which will allow it to cater to a wider segment of Pakistan's entrepreneurial community.

The regulator also noted the rising role played by lending NBFCs in the growth of the sectors where the lending system is weak. The SECP said that combined these institutions had disbursed about Rs111 billion for financing around 7.5 million micro and small businesses between July–December 2025. It illustrates how digital finance is becoming a more important mechanism of extending credit to businesses that are unable to access traditional banking products.