Mobile banking platform easypaisa and Paismo, a startup in the HR and payroll space, have partnered up to roll out a one-click payroll disbursement feature for the first time in Pakistan.
The solution simplifies payroll processing, Paismo said in a statement, enabling “instant and secure” salary disbursements into employees’ digital wallets and bank accounts.
Startup Paismo, Bank Alfalah partner to make HR services seamless
Omer Aijaz – Head of Corporate Sales & Partnerships at easypaisa – said on LinkedIn the move will be “a game changer in the payroll segment” while Paismo hopes it will improve financial inclusion for workers across the country.
Disbursement into any account
One of the reasons for this is that the money can be transferred into any bank account, Paismo co-founders – University of Pennsylvania alumni Rebecka Zavaleta and Usama Mahmud – told Business Recorder in an exclusive chat.
“Most of the time, every employee has to have an account in one particular bank. But we allow disbursements to any account,” explained Zavaleta.
“This is especially important when it comes to the deskless worker segment, who get paid in cash. Sometimes when you get paid in cash, like every Friday or every end of the month… Everyone knows you’re getting paid, you’re most likely getting robbed! This happens a lot at factories in the rural areas.”
“This ability to get paid digitally is safer for low-wage workers.”
Another plus, Mahmud added, is that this will “help promote and foster digitisation in this low-income segment. There’s a lot of people in this segment who have digital wallet accounts, but many of them are not really realising their full benefits.”
This includes secure and reliable access to their earnings, building credit histories, and accessing a wider range of financial services that were previously out of reach, fostering long-term financial stability and inclusion.
“The faster you have access to your funds, the less likely you are to take on a loan in order to pay an emergency hospital bill or whatever it is,” said Zavaleta.
So what’s in it for employers?
There are many advantages for companies, the duo said, even if employee wellbeing is not on the top of their priority list.
“In Pakistan, we have spoken to most big banks and big enterprises. There is not a single platform that allows you to manage your entire HR and payroll and disperse the payroll as well,” said Mahmud.
“As a CFO of a company, I would have to extract the data and send the Excel file to my bank and tell my bank to disperse the salaries. So there’s a multi-layered process.”
“Another big issue every company will tell you they are facing has to do with retention,” Zavaleta explained.
“There’s a huge brain drain issue happening in Pakistan, and a fight for the top talent. When you’re able to provide payroll by the first, not by the fifth or sixth of the month, that’s a huge bonus that a company can provide.”
Cross-border hiring
Paismo has a global presence across the United States (US), Pakistan, Mexico and Ethiopia and it has recently launched its Employer of Record (EOR) services where it helps companies hire, onboard, ensure local compliance, and pay their staff abroad.
The founders explained that the one-click payroll disbursement offering with easypaisa will help Paismo strengthen this crucial offering.
The EOR service allows international businesses to onboard employees, manage compliance and process payroll, it said, adding that by simplifying cross-border hiring, Paismo is helping companies tap into skilled professionals while ensuring seamless and compliant payroll disbursement.
Global expansion
Paismo – which raised a $1.3 million seed round led by Indus Valley Capital in August 2023 and was recently a top 12 finalist in the Leap 2025 Rocket Fuel competition in Saudi Arabia – has its sights set on global expansion, beginning with Kenya.
“The vision behind Paismo was to make it a global company, and that’s why the infrastructure is built in a way that companies in Kenya can use it and customise it for their requirements,” as can firms in Bangladesh or Saudi Arabia, said Mahmud.
“We have a lot of market forces pulling us to further expand into Saudi and to the East, into the East African corridor as well, because our product is heavily needed”, said Zalveta.
She explained that any company that’s above 35 employees starts to struggle with manual HR and payroll processes.
“And that’s usually the sweet spot where we come in. It’s like, you’re not exactly an enterprise yet, but you’re big enough where HR and payroll processes become a pain.”
Pakistan-based founders ‘are some of the most resilient’
Paismo’s latest partnership comes at a dismal time for startup funding in Pakistan.
A record year for startups in 2021 was followed by another stellar year in 2022 before startup funding depleted to $74 million in 2023, which halved to a mere $37 million (up till November) during the outgoing calendar year, according to Invest2-Innovate’s report on the Pakistan startup Ecosystem in 2024.
But the Paismo founders remain positive about the country’s startup prospects.
“When you look at Pakistan-based founders, I think they’re really the most resilient group of people I’ve ever met,” said Zalveta.
“Pakistan founders are finding ways to break into Saudi, Africa and MENA. They know how to survive,” she said, adding: “Maybe if the conversation can shift a bit away from the Pakistani market and more on ‘look at what’s happening with founders, look at the magic that they’re able to create with a little bit of funding that they’re raising in this market landscape.”
