UPaisa Branchless Banking Platform
Nearly seven years of branchless banking delivery across web, USSD, and third-party channels, from core features to team and architecture ownership.
UPaisa is a branchless banking and mobile-wallet platform built on the SAP Mobile Platform, first for Ufone and later Ubank. Over nearly seven years I delivered features across the web portal, USSD dial menus, and third-party integrations, growing from developer into senior technical and delivery responsibilities.
- Role
- Developer to Senior Consultant
- Domain
- Branchless Banking
- Timeframe
- Nov 2013 - Aug 2020 · Abacus Consulting
Highlights
- Feature delivery across web, USSD, and third-party channels
- Migration to a newer SAP Mobile Platform version
- Team lead, code review, and architecture responsibilities
Business context
UPaisa lets registered customers perform bank transfers, fund transfers, bill payments, remittances, and other financial transactions through agents, USSD, and the mobile app. It is built on SAP's Sybase 365 and Mobiliser platform and integrates with banks and regulatory systems.
My role
I worked across the front-end, back-end, and USSD layers, delivering complex multi-step processes and reusable services. Over time I took on team lead, project architecture, production support, and client-facing responsibilities.
Core delivery
- Built branchless banking transactions including CNIC-based and wallet transactions, IBFT (incoming and outgoing), bill payments, mobile top-ups, donations, and loan repayments.
- Designed USSD menus and workflows using SAP's Brand Mobiliser simulator to replicate the agent dial-menu experience.
- Delivered customer registration and biometric verification, retrieving customer information from NADRA through Ufone's service.
- Implemented the complete mobile-app customer onboarding flow, from mobile number and CNIC pre-verification to the final registration response.
- Developed location-based services (Agent Locator and QR Retailer Locator) using GPS coordinates rendered on Google Maps, plus bulk CSV upload for agent and retailer locations.
Migration and platform work
I contributed extensively to migrating the entire branchless banking implementation to a newer SAP Mobile Platform version, maintaining data integrity and system stability. This included bank account linking and de-linking, financial switch integration with Avanza (RDV), and domestic remittance management.
New business requirements
- Biometric-based transactions across portal, USSD, and third-party channels.
- HRA (Home Remittance Account) registration through the web portal.
- Loan in Wallet, lending against the branchless banking account via PIBAS services.
- Automated account dormancy after a defined period of inactivity.
- USSD debit-card requests and new ATM transaction types, including mini statement, intrabank fund transfer, bill payment, and IBFT outgoing.
- EFT details and purpose codes persisted for every wallet transaction, in line with State Bank regulatory requirements.
Senior responsibilities
In later years I held senior responsibilities across production support, deployments, build and release management, code review, scope and effort estimation for new change requests, and client interaction.