New facility brings together AI, customer research and rapid prototyping to build simpler, more inclusive financial experiences

ISLAMABAD, September 07, 2026: JazzCash, Pakistan's leading digital financial services provider and a subsidiary of VEON Ltd. (NASDAQ:VEON), has opened an AI Foundry and a state-of-the-art usability testing lab at its Islamabad headquarters, establishing a new capability to combine artificial intelligence, advanced customer research and rapid prototyping in the development of its financial products and services. The facility's opening coincides with the tenth anniversary of the JazzCash consumer app.

The facility was inaugurated by Kaan Terzioglu, Group CEO of VEON; Ahmet Kayhan, Chief Payments and Digital Assets Officer, VEON; Aamir Ibrahim, Chairman of JazzCash; Murtaza Ali, CEO of JazzCash and Haaris Chaudhary, CEO of Mobilink Bank. The event marked ten years of the JazzCash platform and set out its direction for the next phase of growth.

The facility uses first of its kind eye tracking technology to record where users look, what captures their attention and where they pause or struggle as they move through a digital product, capturing friction that customers often cannot put into words in an interview or survey. The lab grade setup goes beyond traditional tools more commonly used for user testing locally, giving JazzCash researchers frame by frame data on customer behaviour. Product managers use that data to test features and customer journeys directly with users, catching usability problems and validating fixes before rollout.

The inauguration was marked by a ceremony in Islamabad that brought together JazzCash's partners, customers and employees to mark the anniversary and set out the platform's next phase. What began as a basic money transfer and bill payment service has grown into a platform serving 62 million customers and the country's largest digital payment acceptance network with 1.7 million Raast enabled QR merchants, a digital lending platform issuing more than 224,000 loans a day, an Insurtech and an online payment gateway, culminating this year in its listing as the first and only Pakistani fintech on CNBC and Statista's World's Top Fintech Companies ranking.

Kaan Terzioglu, CEO of VEON Group, said: " JazzCash began by serving customers who had never had access to formal financial services. Today, together with Mobilink Bank, it is VEON's largest digital financial services platform. Connectivity and the digital services built on it, financial services chief among them, are how we deliver on our purpose of a better life for all. The AI Foundry is how we keep the platform close to customers as their needs evolve."

Murtaza Ali, CEO of JazzCash, said: "Ten years gets you the infrastructure. The AI Foundry is how we make sure the next ten build something people actually need, letting the smallest shopkeeper build a storefront of their own, opening up new ways to save and invest, reaching the next person the formal economy hasn't gotten to yet."

The AI Foundry will be a permanent part of how it builds products through its second decade, testing directly with customers before features reach the platform's userbase.

About JazzCash

JazzCash is Pakistan’s leading digital financial services platform, operating under a Branchless Banking charter and offering mobile wallet services in collaboration with Mobilink Microfinance Bank. It serves 62 million registered customers across Pakistan, providing a broad portfolio of services including payments, lending, insurance, welfare disbursements, and government-to-person payments. For more information, please visit: http://www.jazzcash.com.pk/.

About VEON

VEON is a digital operator that provides connectivity and digital services to over 151 million connectivity customers and more than 227 million digital users. Operating across five countries that are home to more than 6% of the world's population, VEON is transforming lives through technology driven services that empower individuals and drive economic growth. VEON is listed on Nasdaq. For more information, visit: www.veon.com.

Contact Information:

JazzCash

Khayyam Siddiqi

Head of Communication

Khayyam.siddiqi@jazzcash.pk