JazzCash CEO joins Money20/20 Awards jury as Pakistan fintech gains visibility

Murtaza Ali, chief executive of JazzCash, has been appointed to the jury for the Banking Category at the 2026 Money20/20 Awards.

He is the only Pakistani included in the category’s jury this year, which evaluates financial services initiatives from around the world.

The appointment follows JazzCash’s own showing at the 2025 edition of the awards, where it secured a Silver position in the same category. The platform, backed by VEON, is one of the largest digital payments providers in Pakistan, with a focus on mobile wallets, merchant payments, and branchless banking.

Pakistan’s fintech sector has grown steadily over the past few years, supported in part by regulatory changes led by the State Bank of Pakistan, including licensing frameworks for electronic money institutions and efforts to expand digital payments infrastructure.

While adoption remains uneven, particularly outside urban centres, digital financial services providers such as JazzCash and its competitors have played a central role in bringing first-time users into formal financial channels.

Ali’s inclusion on the jury reflects increasing, though still limited, international exposure for Pakistani fintech firms. It also comes at a time when global investors and platforms are paying closer attention to emerging markets with large unbanked populations.

Whether that attention translates into sustained investment or scale remains to be seen, but representation at forums such as Money20/20 suggests Pakistan’s fintech sector is beginning to register beyond its domestic market.