Atyab Tahir

banking and financial services professional

Compiled from 1 recorded interview. Every statement below is drawn from the passage cited beside it.

Atyab Tahir is the co-founder and chief executive officer of HugoBank. Tahir started his career in bond trading. He intended to spend three months in Pakistan and ended up spending three years there.

Early life and background

Atyab Tahir was born in Libya. His father served in the Air Force and was posted to Libya, and Tahir spent about two of the three years of that posting there. His father later retired from the Air Force. [1]

When Tahir was 12, his family began the immigration process. His sister was already living in Boston. Tahir says the experience taught him what being an immigrant in the United States is and what having no money is all about. [1]

Education

Tahir attended college in New Hampshire, where he also took many philosophy, economics and political science courses. He completed an MBA at a school in Boston. He graduated from business school in 2007. [1]

Career

Tahir started his career in bond trading. He intended to spend three months in Pakistan and ended up spending three years there. He worked on a project with the Asian Development Bank that wrote Balochistan's integrated water resource management policy. Tahir says an olive recommendation was given in 2003, and that growing olives instead of apples was recommended because apple is a very water-intensive fruit. [1]

Tahir worked for Johnson & Johnson, where he worked in medical devices. He was part of a Johnson & Johnson leadership development program and had chosen Pakistan as his market. The company decided not to send an international resource to Pakistan. [1]

Tahir worked with a risk consulting firm. He spent two and a half years in Kuwait, helping a firm build its business in the financial services space. He also started working with a 400-year-old publishing firm, and describes that work as his first foray into understanding digitization. [1]

Tahir spent four and a half years at Tameer Bank. He says three years in Pakistan had turned into almost 11 years. He also says he worked on strategy for about a year and a half, and that he worked with an ex-governor who was on the board. [1]

Views on financial services

Tahir argues that fintechs need to be niche players. He says they should fill the gaps where banking and the banking mindset fail, and that they should collaborate with banks rather than compete with them. He also says fintech is not the same thing as payments. [1]

Tahir says banks have to start thinking like content companies. He says data is being aggressively wasted in Pakistan, primarily because everyone works in a silo, and that there have been attempts in the country, especially in financial services, to build wall gardens. He says Telcos will have a very hard time getting into the financial services space and that the telco mindset needs to change. [1]

On the economy, Tahir says it is going through what he calls a disintermediation super cycle. He says several multinationals are moving Pakistan from the Asia Pacific region to MENA, and that Visa and Mastercard were among the first to bring crypto into mainstream payments through their cards. He also says places like Kuwait have to diversify. [1]

On regulation, Tahir says he does not speak on behalf of the regulator, and he describes the regulator as very progressive. He says the central bank created an account that needs no documentation, while banks randomly ask for extra documents from people they do not know. He says social safety net payments should not be given out in cash, and that mobile top-up has been the easiest use case with traction in Pakistan. [1]

Tahir says Pakistani financial services are on the bleeding edge in some ways but must catch up in most. [1]

Views on Pakistan and the future

Tahir says he sees a Pakistan that is self-reliant in 2050. He says every child should learn coding and several languages. He also says China has a thousand-year plan that it does not talk about. [1]

Personal life

Tahir has been married for 18 years. He says he has used digital banking in Pakistan for four or five years and pays most of his bills at 2 or 3 in the morning. He says he was amazed in 2012 that he could transfer money instantly in Pakistan. [1]

Timeline

2007
Graduated from business school.[1]
2012
Came to Pakistan and was amazed that he could transfer money instantly.[1]

Appearances

DateTitleWhere
2022-11-16 Why Pakistan's fintechs are failing the masses Thought Behind Things

Frequently asked questions

Who is Atyab Tahir?

Atyab Tahir is a financial services professional who has worked in bond trading, risk consulting, publishing and banking. He spent four and a half years at Tameer Bank. He was born in Libya and completed an MBA at a school in Boston.[1]

Where was Atyab Tahir born?

Atyab Tahir was born in Libya. His father served in the Air Force and was posted there, and Tahir spent about two of the three years of that posting in Libya.[1]

Where did Atyab Tahir study?

Atyab Tahir attended college in New Hampshire and completed an MBA at a school in Boston. He graduated from business school in 2007.[1]

Which companies has Atyab Tahir worked for?

Atyab Tahir has worked for Johnson & Johnson, where he worked in medical devices. He also spent four and a half years at Tameer Bank. He worked on a project with the Asian Development Bank and spent two and a half years in Kuwait helping a firm build its financial services business.[1]

What does Atyab Tahir say about fintech?

Atyab Tahir says fintechs need to be niche players that fill the gaps where banking and the banking mindset fail. He says they should collaborate with banks rather than compete with them. He also says fintech is not the same thing as payments.[1]

How long has Atyab Tahir been in Pakistan?

Atyab Tahir says he intended to spend three months in Pakistan and ended up spending three years there. He also says three years in Pakistan had turned into almost 11 years.[1]

What does Atyab Tahir say about Pakistan in 2050?

Atyab Tahir says he sees a Pakistan that is self-reliant in 2050. He also says every child should learn coding and several languages.[1]

References

  1. Why Pakistan's fintechs are failing the masses . Thought Behind Things , 2022-11-16.
Show the source passages (55 statements)
  1. Atyab Tahir was born in Libya. I was actually born in Libya, believe it or not.
  2. His father served in the Air Force and was posted to Libya. my father served in the Air Force. Unki deputation thi Libya mein.
  3. He spent about two of the three years his father was posted in Libya. I spent two of my two of the three years there.
  4. When he was 12, his family began the immigration process. kyunke 12 saal ki umar mein humne apna immigration process shuru kar diya tha.
  5. His father retired from the Air Force. My father retired from the Air Force.
  6. His sister was already living in Boston. Boston. My sister was already situated in Boston.
  7. He says the experience taught him what being an immigrant in the United States is and what having no money is all about. understanding what an what being an immigrant in the United States is, what having no money is all about.
  8. He attended college in New Hampshire. I ended up going to college in a neighboring state in New Hampshire.
  9. He also took many philosophy, economics and political science courses. maine bahut se philosophy courses liye, economics ke courses liye, political science ke courses liye.
  10. He started his career in bond trading. bonds ki trading mein maine Fidelity investments ke saath apna career shuru kiya.
  11. He intended to spend three months in Pakistan and ended up spending three years there. then I ended up spending three years here when I only intended to spend three months.
  12. He then worked on a project with the Asian Development Bank that wrote Balochistan's integrated water resource management policy. Then I ended up on a project with the Asian Development Bank jahan pe humne Balochistan ki integrated water resource management policy likhi.
  13. He says growing olives instead of apples was recommended, because apple is a very water-intensive fruit. growing olives instead of apples, because apple is a very uh water intensive fruit.
  14. He says an olive recommendation was given in 2003. Yeh olive ki recommendation humne 2003 mein di thi
  15. He completed an MBA at a school in Boston. Phir maine apna MBA kiya Babson se, which is also in Boston.
  16. He graduated from business school in 2007. business school you graduated in what year? 2007.
  17. He worked for Johnson & Johnson. No, I went I worked for Johnson & Johnson.
  18. At Johnson & Johnson he worked in medical devices. Um and I worked in medical devices.
  19. He was in a Johnson & Johnson leadership development program and had chosen Pakistan as his market. I was part of this leadership development program that they had and I had chosen Pakistan as my market
  20. Johnson & Johnson decided not to send an international resource to Pakistan. Johnson & Johnson decided not to deploy um an international resource to Pakistan.
  21. He worked with a risk consulting firm. yeh consulting firm hai jiska naam hai Protiviti. It's a risk consulting firm.
  22. He spent two and a half years in Kuwait, helping a firm build its business in the financial services space. Dhai saal ke liye maine Kuwait mein, I helped them build business in the financial services space.
  23. He says places like Kuwait have to diversify. they have to diversify including places like Kuwait.
  24. He started working with a 400-year-old publishing firm. So I started working with a 400-year-old publishing firm.
  25. He describes that work as his first foray into understanding digitization. So that was really my first foray into understanding digitization.
  26. He worked on strategy for about a year and a half. Dedh saal maine strategy pe kaam kiya.
  27. He says three years in Pakistan had turned into almost 11 years. Those three years have turned into almost 11 years now.
  28. He worked with an ex-governor who was on the board. I got to work with Salim Raza, who was the ex-governor, he was on our board.
  29. He spent four and a half years at Tameer Bank. for four and a half years when I was at Tameer, we achieved a lot.
  30. He says several multinationals are moving Pakistan from the Asia Pacific region to MENA. a lot of these multinationals are now realigning Pakistan from Asia Pacific to MENA.
  31. He says Visa and Mastercard were among the first to bring crypto into mainstream payments through their cards. Visa and MasterCard were one of the first ones to mainstream crypto payments through their cards.
  32. He says the economy is going through what he calls a disintermediation super cycle. we are going through what is what I would call the disintermediation super cycle.
  33. He says he does not speak on behalf of the regulator. I don't want to speak on behalf of the regulator.
  34. He describes the regulator as very progressive. aapka regulator ek bahut progressive regulator hai.
  35. He says the telco mindset needs to change. Telco mindset change hone ki zaroorat hai.
  36. He says Telcos will have a very hard time getting into the financial services space. Telcos will have a very hard time getting into the financial services space
  37. He says data is being aggressively wasted in Pakistan, primarily because everyone works in a silo. what I see is data being wasted, aggressively wasted, primarily because Pakistan mein har banda ek silo mein
  38. He says banks have to start thinking like content companies. banks have to start thinking like content companies.
  39. He says social safety net payments should not be given out in cash. Social safety net payments should not be given out in cash.
  40. He says mobile top-up has been the easiest use case with traction in Pakistan. Sabse aasaan use case jahan pe hamein traction nazar aayi Pakistan mein woh hai mobile top-up.
  41. He says fintechs need to be niche players. They need to be a niche player.
  42. He says fintechs should fill the gaps where banking and the banking mindset fail. Jahan pe banking fail ho jati hai aur banking mindset fail ho jata hai.
  43. He says fintechs should collaborate with banks rather than compete with them. they come out of this competing mindset and they look at how they can complement the banks
  44. He says there have been attempts in the country, especially in financial services, to build wall gardens. we've been trying to build wall gardens in this country, especially in the financial services space.
  45. He says he has used digital banking in Pakistan for four or five years. I have been banking digital banking in Pakistan for four or five years now.
  46. He says he pays most of his bills at 2 or 3 in the morning. I pay most of my bills at 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning.
  47. He says the central bank created an account that needs no documentation. Central Bank ne ek aisa account banaya hai jiske liye aapko koi documentation ki zarurat nahi hai.
  48. He says banks randomly ask for extra documents from people they do not know. If they don't know you, they will randomly add four, five more.
  49. He says Pakistan will be self-reliant by 2050. in 2050, I actually see a Pakistan that is self-reliant.
  50. He says every child should learn coding and several languages. Har bache ko coding aani chahiye, har bache ko multi, multiple languages aani chahiye
  51. He says China has a thousand-year plan that it does not talk about. They even have a thousand year plan which they don't talk about.
  52. He has been married for 18 years. the person that I have now been married to for 18 years.
  53. He says Pakistani financial services are on the bleeding edge in some ways but must catch up in most. Pakistani financial services uh is on the bleeding edge, but in most ways, I would say that we have to catch up.
  54. He says he was amazed in 2012 that he could transfer money instantly in Pakistan. I was actually amazed when I came to Pakistan in 2012 that I could instantly transfer money to someone else.
  55. He says fintech is not the same thing as payments. FinTech is not PayTech, right?