IT IN BUSINESS FINAL PROJECT
2024
In many Pakistani and Indian households, informal savings groups, commonly known as “ﯽﭩﯿﻤﮐ" (committees), serve as a vital tool for collective saving. These committees bring together individuals who agree to pool in a fixed amount of money on a monthly basis, with the total sum being handed to one participant per month in a rotating cycle.
IT IN BUSINESS FINAL PROJECT
INTRODUCTION
2024
What’s the need of it?
Despite its popularity, the committee system is largely managed manually, leading to several inefficiencies and challenges, such as:
Lack of transparency Mismanagement of funds
Difficulty tracking contributions and payouts
In 2022, a Karachi based influencer, Sidra Humaid, ripped of PKR 420 million from 200+ creditors, resulting in huge loss. Hence, aims to bring ease for the people, by providing them security, efficiency, and effectiveness. (Malik. M, 2022)
Mission Statement
Our mission is to digitize the traditional committee system, providing a secure, transparent, and efficient platform that empowers users to manage their finances effectively.
[1]
OBJECTIVES
SIMPLIFY COMMITTEE MANAGEMENT
ENHANCE TRANSPARENCY
Develop an easy-to-use platform where users can set up, join, and manage their committees, eliminating the need for manual record-keeping.
Provide real-time tracking of contributions and payouts, ensuring that all members have clear visibility into the status of their
committees.
INCREASE SECURITY
Implement secure payment gateways and data encryption to safeguard user information and funds, reducing the risks associated with fraud or mismanagement.
IT IN BUSINESS
2024FINAL PROJECT
FOSTER COMMUNITY TRUST
By offering a structured, rule-based platform, we aim to build trust within the user base, ensuring fair distribution of funds and
accountability within the group.
Size of our potential market
As of 2024, there are 1.71 billion people in Pakistan and India combined, with 72.97% Pakistani living in middle income bracket. The middle-and lower-income brackets rely more on traditional savings mechanisms rather than complex banking services.
Pakistan has the third largest unbanked adult population globally with about 100 million adults without a bank account. (Siddiqui. S, 2023). This huge gap can be filled by a system that has had trust and reliability amongst the population. And committee system is a perfect example of it, as it exists since a long time.
Lastly, with financial banking institutions, there is a religious factor of Interest and Riba that prevents people from using the banking services.
Hence, our option would be much more attractive to the audience, due to it being Sharia-friendly, simple, innovative and reliable.
IT IN BUSINESS FINAL PROJECT
MARKET ANALYSIS
2024
Market Attractiveness
There were 111.0 million internet users in Pakistan in January 2024, which is 45.7% of the total population at the start of 2024. This is a whopping
increase of 24 million (+27.1%) users from January 2023, indicating an increasing trend due to the increasing population of Pakistan - which is
[2][3]
[4]
[5][6]
This presents an opportunity for us to convert an informal financial system that has been going around manually for more than centuries, into an automated, online, efficient and reliable system.
That is why, introducing a digital platform containing a familiar practice will increase adoption rates, as users will feel more comfortable
transitioning to a system they already trust and have experienced.
IT IN BUSINESS
FINAL PROJECT
2024Scalability
Once the platform is launched, it can be scaled into the international market. Especially in developing countries where ROSCAs are still
popular, such as Latin America, Asia, and Africa, resulting in exponential growth.
Furthermore, offers financial services to all, including illiterates, who normally have difficulties in accessing complex financial banking and saving systems, making it highly attractive to the majority.
[7]
[8]
Urban and Semi-Urban Middle-Class Families
These users often rely on committees for saving towards large
expenses such as weddings, education, or household purchases. In a report published by DAWN, it was found that committees are used more than twice as much in urban areas in rural areas.
IT IN BUSINESS
2024FINAL PROJECT
Target Customer Segments
Small Business Owners and Entrepreneurs
Many small business owners use committees as a way to pool funds for reinvesting in their businesses. Over 84% of the users participating in committees are formal corporate workers.
Women in Rural and Urban Areas
In many households, women manage the finances and participate in committees, as mentioned in a Tribune interview “ROSCA is the only financial product in the world that women use more than men, 1.3 times more than men.” (Hiba, 2021)
[9]
[10]
[11]
IT IN BUSINESS FINAL PROJECT
We will use different platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn to reach different demographics. Such as people interested in personal finance, saving solutions, and community-based platforms. We will customize ads by targeting users who engage with similar financial services, are part of committee-based groups, or show interest in budgeting tools.
We can also partner with local influencers whose niche is finance, personal development, or are well known in the field of family-oriented content. Not only in Pakistan, but we can use influencers from India, who can boost awareness and trust, especially if they have credibility in the above mentioned topics.
Social Media Marketing
2024
Marketing and Promotional Strategies
Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Advertising
Furthermore, we can use PPC to prey on potential users who are actively searching for terms like "online committee management"
"secure digital savings" or "group savings tools." This will get us visibility in search results immediately when users are specifically looking for such solutions.
YouTube ads were found to reach 64.6% of the internet user base in Pakistan, demonstrating the scalability and reach of these types of ads.
These ads can rotate from user testimonials to security explanations to showcasing how the committee's needs could be met.
Influencer Marketing
YouTube Ad
[12]
IT IN BUSINESS FINAL PROJECT
AI algorithms can scrutinize transaction patterns and highlight unusual or potentially fraudulent activities; thus, they can increase trust and security for the users.
Fraud Detection and Risk Analysis
2024
Role of AI in the Platform
Automated Customer Support
AI could initiate encouraging savings behavior on behalf of users by assisting them in setting realistic savings objectives in respect to their income and historical savings habits. This vastly improves the entire user experience.
Personalized User Experience
Predictive Analytics for Savings Goals
AI can generate a list of different features based on user data and specific recommendations or personalized insights, for example, tips about saving money, reminders to improve user engagement, and so forth.
AI-powered chatbots are available for answering FAQs and common queries, enhancing customer service while reducing support costs.
IT IN BUSINESS FINAL PROJECT
We will offer a basic free version to gain traction and a premium model with added features (e.g., larger committees, financial suggestions and guidance, enhanced security, customer support). Users could choose monthly or yearly plans.
Subscription Model
2024
Business Economics
Financial Partnerships
Displaying limited number of ads of financial products or local services, with strict privacy compliance.
Transaction Fees
In-App Advertising
We can also implement a small transaction fee for handling committee contributions and payouts. This fee would be deducted whenever users pool funds or receive payouts.
Partnering with banks or microfinance institutions to allow users access to microloans or formal savings, will result in commissions (e.g. earned from referrals or successful loan applications.)
IT IN BUSINESS FINAL PROJECT
The digital platform is quite feasible to address an increasingly pressing need in managing the informal savings groups in Pakistan and India. By establishing a digitized version of the traditional
committee system, the platform seeks to do away with inefficiencies such as opacity in operating finances, fund mismanagement, and challenges associated with manual tracking. Thus, becoming a useful tool for a class of people and families relying on committee savings, due to the following reasons;
2024
Conclusion
There is a huge user base in Pakistan and India, where informal
committees are rampant but not managed in any way. Therefore, this makes a very strong case for digital solutions.
Various sources of income, like a subscription model, transaction fees, and partnerships with financial institutions, presents a viable income stream.
A scalable subscription plus transaction fee model means great
margins since the cost of digital services to be incurred on such sales is low.
IT IN BUSINESS FINAL PROJECT
MEET OUR TEAM
2024
ABDULLAH 24I-5143 MAHD
24I-5059
ALI IMRAN 24I-5056
AMMAR
24I-5107 ALI WARRAICH
24I-5100
REFERENCES
2024
SIDRA HAMID - PONZI SCHEME
https://www.dawn.com/news/1724659 TOTAL POPULATION OF INDIA AND PAKISTAN https://worldpopulationreview.com/
MIDDLE CLASS PERCENTAGES
https://data.worldbank.org/?locations=XP-XD-XM-PK
IT IN BUSINESS FINAL PROJECT
UNBANKED POPULATION OF PAKISTAN
https://tribune.com.pk/story/2408685/digital-banks-eye-pakistans-unbanked-population INTERNET USERS IN PAKISTAN
https://datareportal.com/reports/digital-2024-pakistan RISING POPULATION OF PAKISTAN
https://datareportal.com/reports/digital-2024-pakistan HISTORY OF ROSCAS
https://www.philadelphiafed.org/-/media/frbp/assets/community-development/discussion- papers/discussionpaper-ROSCAs.pdf
SCALABILITY OF ROSCAS
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/r/rotating-credit-and-savings-association.asp#citation-1 COMMITTEE USERS IN URBAN AREAS
https://www.dawn.com/news/950117/committees-system-country-s-third-largest-savings-channel CORPORATE WORKERS AND COMMITTEES
https://www.dawn.com/news/950117/committees-system-country-s-third-largest-savings-channel WOMEN AND MEN USER RATIO OF COMMITTEES
Corporate workers and committees
https://www.dawn.com/news/950117/committees-system-country-s-third-largest-savings-channel 1
2 3 4 5 6 7
8 9 10 11
YOUTUBE AD REACH
https://datareportal.com/reports/digital-2024-pakistan 12
THANK YOU
IT IN BUSINESS
2024FINAL PROJECT
