One of the most exciting things PTI promises to make a reality during their rule was to bring foreign payment solutions giant PayPal to Pakistan. And a lot of people were excited with the prospect of having PayPal in Pakistan since it would make online shopping and receiving funds from abroad much easier.
This was a burning question being asked of the government; when is PayPal coming to Pakistan?
Back in September 2018, Asad Umar, the then Finance Minister at the time, gave an interview to 92 News. In the interview, he said that in the next three to four months Pakistan would have either PayPal or a PayPal equivalent operating in the country.
He said the issue was never that Pakistan had not given permission to PayPal just that the company itself had not decided to introduce operations in Pakistan. And when Asad Umar revealed that he had had a meeting with PayPal representatives people were incredibly excited.
But after the Minister for Information Technology Secretary Maroof Afzal was pressed about whether the company is coming to Pakistan any time soon, he said “PayPal did not decline because it has issues operating in Pakistan. Their internal working is such that they are not ready to introduce services in Pakistan”, according to Dawn.com.
So basically, PayPal is saying it’s not you, it’s me. Wow.
“PayPal did not decline because it has issues operating in Pakistan. Their internal working is such that they are not ready to introduce services in Pakistan”
PayPal using the it's not you it's me line. Wowhttps://t.co/wz5YIFDbs6
— Ozy (@LahoriElite) May 17, 2019
Honestly, what internal operations make it impossible for PayPal not to operate in Pakistan? I am confused. And I need better answers than the one they have provided.
And people are pretty upset because they had already imagined a life with PayPal in Pakistan.
PayPal refuse to come to Pak
Renault refuse to come to Pak
Volkswagen refuse to come to Pak#TabdeeliTurnsToTabahi— Faisal Kazi 🇵🇰 (@faisalkazi76) May 17, 2019
and paypal is not coming to Pakistan! ;(
— Tahir Masood (@iTahirMasood) May 17, 2019
https://twitter.com/omerzia/status/1129038225597767680?s=21
But now we can’t even blame Asad Umar anymore because he resigned as the Finance Minister. So who do we blame now?
What do you think about PayPal not coming to Pakistan after all? Let us know in the comments below.