Asasa, a digital gold savings platform that recently rebranded itself from Zariah, has laid out plans to expand beyond gold into a wider range of financial products as it works toward becoming what its founder describes as a super app for savings in Pakistan. The startup has moved from its earlier pre-launch development phase into a controlled rollout over the past several months, with gold positioned as the first product in a broader strategy aimed at encouraging more Pakistanis to save regularly through digital platforms.
Adil Saleem, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Asasa, said the company’s near term goal centres on making gold savings mainstream by giving millions of Pakistanis an easy, transparent, and affordable way to own gold, while the longer term vision involves Asasa evolving into a comprehensive savings platform for the country. Through the app, users can purchase gold starting from one thousand rupees, with transactions executed at live market linked prices and customer holdings backed by physical gold.
The company previously operated under the name Zariah, a period during which it had originally planned to allow users to invest in physical twenty four karat gold starting from five hundred rupees, with the platform still in its pre-launch stage and in discussions with strategic partners and investors at the time. Saleem said the decision to rebrand as Asasa, derived from the Urdu word meaning asset, reflected the company’s broader ambitions beyond its initial digital gold offering, describing the change as part of an effort to build a stronger long term brand identity.
Asasa is currently operating in a controlled rollout phase rather than pursuing rapid early growth, with Saleem explaining that the company’s focus remains on validating its operations, gathering customer feedback, and ensuring reliability across the platform as it scales. Users join through a phased rollout process or can unlock early access by referring ten friends and completing identity verification before purchasing gold through the app. The startup has also raised its minimum investment threshold to one thousand rupees from the five hundred rupees originally planned, a change Saleem attributed to operational efficiency and early user behaviour, noting that the lower amount did not strike the right balance between accessibility and building a meaningful savings habit.
The company generates revenue through a small spread between its buying and selling prices for gold, covering sourcing, technology, and operational costs, and plans to eventually offer physical delivery so customers can convert their digital holdings into physical gold when desired. Saleem framed the company’s broader opportunity around using gold as an entry point into a wider digital savings ecosystem, saying Asasa’s role is not to replace traditional jewellers but to solve a different problem by making it possible for people to start saving with smaller, more convenient entry points, an approach the company is betting can help turn saving into a more regular habit for millions of people across Pakistan.
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