Client Name

Haball Private Limited

Faculty Advisor

Mr. Haroon Tabraze

SBS Thought Leadership Areas

Entrepreneurship and Innovation

SBS Thought Leadership Area Justification

The core objective of the project was to design a viable commercial pilot, map out strategic roadmaps, and build an adoption framework for an innovative fintech product aimed at solving liquidity constraints in corporate supply chains. Because the focus was centered on market implementation, ecosystem creation, and product development within the digital B2B financing landscape, it directly embodies the principles of corporate entrepreneurship and financial technology innovation.

While the project naturally incorporates financial elements, it diverges significantly from the scope of a traditional Investment Decision Making module. Rather than evaluating the initiative strictly from a capital allocator's perspective (such as discounting asset cash flows, performing risk-adjusted portfolio valuations, or calculating capital budgeting metrics like IRR and NPV) our team actively designed the functional business solution itself. Therefore, the project aligns fundamentally with strategic venture execution and innovation rather than purely quantitative asset or investment management.

Aligned SDGs

GOAL 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth

Aligned SDGs Justification

The core mission of B2B supply chain financing is giving small and medium enterprises (SMEs) easier access to working capital through credit cards. By easing liquidity constraints, you directly help these small businesses stay afloat, expand operations, and drive broader economic growth in the formal sector.

NDA

No

Abstract

Pakistan's retail supply chain operates under a deepening structural crisis. Small and medium-sized retailers, the last mile of the country's fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) distribution chain, are experiencing an intense liquidity crunch due to the requirement of cash up-front from corporate manufacturers and distributors and their almost total ban on access to formal credit. This Experiential Learning Project (ELP) explores the possibility of implementing an innovative financing mechanism, based on cards, in the current digital payment ecosystem of Haball Pvt Ltd, a leading B2B fintech in Pakistan, to address this structural gap.

The project was divided into four phases: preliminary research and global benchmarking, stakeholder interviews and market assessment, financial and technical feasibility analysis and pilot design with an implementation roadmap. This methodology comprised a mixed research process with qualitative primary research (structured interviews with retailers, distributors, and fintech partners) and quantitative analysis of market data, financial modelling, and international benchmarking of similar fintech models in Egypt, Turkey and Saudi Arabia.

Key findings indicate that the formal financing cost for retailers in Pakistan is 24% to 30% per year, which is higher than the retailer's willingness to pay (between 15% and 18% per year). Retailers have no collateral, formal credit histories or digital transaction records—in essence, they're invisible to traditional banking underwriting approaches. One out of ten B2B orders is abandoned because of lack of retailer liquidity, which is a huge negative factor in the value of the supply chain and GDP. The credit card penetration in Pakistan is around 1.3% of adult population as opposed to Malaysia (25%) and Saudi Arabia (35%) which is a structural as opposed to a demographic gap which this project aims to fill.

Proposed solution is a Shariah compliant B2B Virtual Credit Card (VCC) that is issued by Haball's regulated fintech platform with a licensed Islamic bank, most notably Meezan Bank, based on Murabaha or Tawarruq. This instrument offers retailers 30-45 days of interest free grace period to receive the inventory, to convert the inventory to income and to repay, without any collateral or formal bank documentation. Haball's proprietary 'Haball Retailer Credit Score' (HRCS) system dynamically assigns limits, using in-platform transaction data and velocity of payments, plus distributor endorsement scores.

A top-down approach is recommended, that will start with the onboarding of a large corporate manufacturer already working in the Haball ecosystem, then continue in selected anchor distributors and end with a pilot of 15 to 20 shops downstream. The HRCS algorithm is stress-tested in a controlled supply chain environment in this sequenced approach, where supply chain acceptance is achieved before retail credit is offered. The resulting effective financing rate of 16% to 17% per annum is structured to be in the retailer's willingness to pay range and provide a viable spread over cost of funds. Strategic recommendations focus on the bank-led white-label model with a bank like Meezan Bank or with a similar Islamic bank, immediate involvement with the SBP Regulatory Sandbox and hardening of NPL ceiling limit at 5% to ensure integrity of the portfolio. With this project SDGs 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth) and SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities) will be addressed as it is democratizing access to formal working capital for Pakistan's large but under-served SME population.

Document Type

Restricted Access

Document Name for Citation

Experiential Learning Project

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