"We have been looking for a service provider with global recognition for launching mobile banking services, said Zia Ijaz, Group Chief Commercial and Retail Banking Group at Allied Bank. "With many successful mobile banking deployments in its portfolio, we are confident that Sybase 365 is the right partner to help us develop and implement a robust mobile banking strategy to tap into the unbanked and under-banked population of Pakistan."

This deployment will enable Allied Bank to integrate mobile banking capabilities into its current banking products, enabling it to tap into a large base of potential customers - approximately 130 million mobile users in Pakistan - particularly in remote rural areas where access to banks, ATMs and the Internet remains limited.

"Pakistan is the fifth largest mobile phone market in Asia, and one of the fastest developing markets for branchless banking in the world. The proliferation of mobile banking continues to help empower these vast communities, improving the daily lives of many and fuelling the local economy," said Matthew Talbot, senior vice president of mCommerce, Sybase 365. "Mobile is undoubtedly emerging as the most important banking channel for customers and we are proud of the strong momentum and leadership we have created in emerging markets."

In addition to Allied Bank, Sybase 365 will also be launching mobile banking services for Habib Bank Limited (HBL) in Pakistan, and ONE Bank Limited (OBL) in Bangladesh. Sybase 365 and Dutch-Bangla Bank Limited (DBBL) in Bangladesh have also jointly won numerous industry awards, and were most recently conferred with 'Best Mobile Banking Initiative' at The Asian Banker Technology Implementation Awards 2012, held in Bangkok, Thailand.