Why should Meezan Bank acquire Haball?

On the 5th of March 2025, Pakistan’s largest Islamic bank published it’s annual report. It credits Haball in helping the Islamic bank increase access to finance for the SME sector in Pakistan.

“The bank provided financing to 272 distributors in the SME sector, through the digital Shariah-compliant financing platform in collaboration with Haball,” says the report. “The bank has included distributors of two new anchors (National Foods Ltd. and Packages Convertor, Ltd.) in its financing portfolio along with distributors of a leading multinational company through the digital Shariah-compliant financing platform in collaboration with Haball.”

Timeline between Meezan and Haball

In 2018, the Islamic bank first partnered with the fintech to introduce a solution for digital payments in the B2B space.

In 2020, Meezan became the first bank in Pakistan to enable paperless digital payments for businesses using Haball.

In 2022, Meezan helped finance the transactions between the distributors and Coca-Cola Pakistan, while leveraging Haball’s fintech’s platform Wisaaq.

In 2024, the bank and fintech signed a referral agreement, allowing Meezan’s clients to digitize the entire order-to-cash lifecycle on Haball’s platform.

What is the value of this relationship?

As of December 31, 2024, the total number of SMEs financed by the bank under subsidised-rate Islamic SME Asaan
Finance scheme are 1,054, with total outstanding financing of Rs 6.45 billion ($23 million). This means that Haball is valued at over $100 million.

“The road ahead will bring new challenges — economic uncertainties and evolving regulatory landscapes will test our resilience and adaptability,” said Irfan Siddiqui, founding president & CEO of Meezan Bank. “The rapid transformation of digital banking and fintech will demand continuous innovation and agility, while intensifying competition in the financial sector will require us to uphold our unwavering commitment to Shariah compliance and service excellence.”

Conclusion
The relationship between the bank and fintech has been of mutual growth. The next step is investment or acquisition. The former can initially be in the form of debt as a test to see how the fintech will finance future SME goals.

Why acquire?
After acquring Haball, Meezan Bank can strengthen its competitive position in the Pakistani banking industry. Particularly in the areas of digital payments, supply chain financing, and SME banking. It can also:

improve vertical Integration:

• Expanded offerings: By acquiring Haball, Meezan Bank can integrate Haball’s digital payment platform into its existing banking services, enhancing its offerings to corporate clients, SMEs, and individual customers.
• Control over the value chain: Meezan Bank can gain greater control over the payment processing and supply chain financing value chain, allowing it to better manage costs, improve efficiency, and provide a more seamless experience for its customers.

improve horizontal Integration:

• Increased reach: The acquisition can expand Meezan Bank’s reach into new markets, such as the SME sector, and increase its customer base through Haball’s existing partnerships with corporates and distributors.

• Diversified revenue streams: By integrating Haball’s payment platform, Meezan Bank can tap into new revenue streams, including transaction fees, payment processing charges, and potential interest income from supply chain financing.

create value chain enhancements:

• Improved supply chain financing: The integration of Haball’s platform can enhance Meezan Bank’s supply chain financing capabilities, enabling it to provide more efficient and cost-effective financing solutions to its corporate clients and SMEs.

• Enhanced digital capabilities: The acquisition can accelerate Meezan Bank’s digital transformation, enabling it to offer more innovative and convenient digital banking services to its customers.

• Increased competitiveness: By acquiring Haball, Meezan Bank can strengthen its competitive position in the Pakistani banking industry, particularly in the areas of digital payments, supply chain financing, and SME banking.