HugoHub has gone live in its first deployment for a regulated bank, launching with Pakistan's HugoBank in one of the country's earliest digital bank builds.

HugoBank opened its first pilot customer account on HugoHub's platform under a controlled pilot conducted through a Restricted Licence from the State Bank of Pakistan for limited-scope operations as a digital retail bank. It was one of five applicants selected for Pakistan's first digital-bank cohort, and the pilot is intended to test products and operating processes before commercial operations begin.

For HugoHub, a Singapore-based financial infrastructure provider, this is its first live bank deployment spanning both back-end banking systems and the customer-facing app. The system used by HugoBank covers core ledgers, account servicing, payments, card management and savings tools, while an operating portal handles administration, customer service and risk monitoring.

Pakistan offers a large potential market for digital banking, with a population of nearly 260 million and relatively low levels of formal financial inclusion. World Bank data cited by the companies showed that only slightly more than a quarter of adults in the country held a bank or mobile-money account in 2024.

The country introduced its digital-bank framework in 2022 to extend financial services to unserved and underserved communities. That policy backdrop has created an opening for new entrants such as HugoBank, which is building its systems around digital identity and instant payments infrastructure already established in the market.

The deployment has been adapted to local operating requirements, including biometric verification through NADRA, connectivity with 1LINK and Raast, and configuration for withholding tax, Zakat deductions and local reporting formats.

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