Solving the Last Mile of Humanitarian Finance

Secure. Compliant. Cost-Effective. Built for Challenging Environments.

The Challenge

For international NGOs operating in conflict zones, fragile states, and sanctioned jurisdictions, delivering financial assistance can be as difficult as raising it.

Banking disruptions, sanctions restrictions, unreliable intermediaries, volatile exchange rates, and security risks can delay assistance, increase costs, and prevent resources from reaching intended beneficiaries.

Project Aftab is being developed to help humanitarian organizations operate responsibly in these environments.

The Aftab Solution

Project Aftab is a digital financial infrastructure platform designed to support humanitarian assistance in difficult operating environments.

Through privacy-preserving verification, integrated compliance controls, and digital vouchers, Aftab is designed to help NGOs deliver assistance while maintaining oversight, protecting beneficiaries, and reducing dependence on complex payment chains.

Aftab is designed to help organizations:

• Reach vulnerable communities where conventional financial infrastructure is unreliable or unavailable

• Protect sensitive beneficiary information

• Support sanctions screening, verification, and transaction monitoring

• Reduce reliance on costly intermediaries and informal cash brokers

• Track assistance from allocation through redemption

• Retain control over program design, eligibility, funding, and reporting

• Integrate the platform into existing systems through a customizable API

Aftab is not another intermediary between NGOs and beneficiaries. It is an infrastructure designed to help organizations reach them.

Key Capabilities

• White-Label Infrastructure: Once the API is live and the relevant deployment requirements are met, NGOs will be able to integrate Aftab into their existing websites or operational systems while retaining their own identity, donor relationships, and program administration.

• Compliance by Design: The platform is designed to support applicable sanctions, anti-money-laundering, counter-terrorist-financing, verification, and transaction-monitoring requirements.

• Privacy-Preserving Verification: Aftab is designed to confirm eligibility and compliance information while limiting unnecessary disclosure of sensitive personal data.

• Digital Voucher Distribution: Once deployed, NGOs will be able to allocate assistance through a closed-loop digital voucher system, and beneficiaries will be able to redeem it with approved local merchants for essential goods or authorized store credit.

• Program Oversight: Once the dashboard is live, organizations will be able to monitor allocations, authorization status, redemption activity, exceptions, and other program-level information to support accountability and donor reporting.

How It Works

The planned workflow will allow organizations to:

1. Define the Program: The NGO will be able to establish beneficiary eligibility, assistance amounts, payment schedules, and applicable authorizations.

2. Allocate Assistance Digitally: The NGO will be able to assign approved funding to digital vouchers, subject to the relevant funding and settlement arrangements.

3. Verify Beneficiaries Securely: The NGO will be able to conduct eligibility and compliance checks while minimizing unnecessary exposure of personal information.

4. Redeem Assistance Locally: Beneficiaries will be able to use vouchers with approved merchants to obtain essential goods or authorized services.

5. Maintain Oversight: The NGO will be able to monitor distribution, review exceptions, and generate records for internal controls and reporting.

These capabilities remain subject to applicable approvals, technical readiness, and individual partner agreements.

The objective: greater control for humanitarian organizations, stronger protection for beneficiaries, and more effective delivery of assistance.

Unique Value Proposition

Traditional humanitarian transfers may involve multiple intermediaries, correspondent banks, currency conversions, and last-mile cash brokers. Depending on the operating environment, potential costs may include:

• Compliance and legal overhead

• Correspondent banking and wire fees

• Exchange-rate losses

• Last-mile cash distribution costs

Actual costs depend on the transaction structure, jurisdiction, and delivery model. Cost categories may overlap and should not be added together without accounting for those differences.

Aftab’s objective is to reduce unnecessary friction while strengthening compliance, beneficiary protection, and accountability.

Safeguards for High-Risk Environments

Aftab is being developed with safeguards appropriate to conflict-affected and sanctioned environments, including:

• Sanctions and financial-crime screening

• Privacy-preserving beneficiary verification

• Transaction monitoring and review

• Planned holding periods before settlement

• Mechanisms to suspend flagged transactions where legally and technically possible

• Jurisdiction-specific licensing and authorization

• Transaction records and program reporting

• Nonpartisan support for lawful humanitarian and civil society activities

Deployment will depend on applicable laws, licenses, permissions, technical readiness, and partner requirements.

Potential Applications

Aftab may support programs involving:

• Humanitarian relief and essential household needs

• Medical and pharmaceutical assistance

• Civil society and community resilience initiatives

• Family assistance

• Other authorized economic-support programs

Each deployment is assessed individually, including regulatory requirements, beneficiary access, merchant participation, and secure settlement arrangements.

Pilot Partnership Opportunity

Project Aftab is preparing an initial supervised pilot and inviting qualified international NGOs, humanitarian organizations, and civil society partners to participate.

A working minimum viable product has been developed, a core patent application has been filed, and licensing applications are in progress.

Pilot implementation is expected to include:

• Technical Integration: Secure API integration, program configuration, and controlled testing.

• Corridor and Partner Assessment: Review of regulatory requirements, local infrastructure, beneficiary needs, merchant eligibility, and settlement arrangements.

• Supervised Deployment: A limited pilot designed to evaluate operational performance, compliance, beneficiary protection, cost efficiency, and user experience.

Pilot scope, pricing, performance measures, and reporting requirements will be developed with each partner organization.

Partner With Project Aftab

Project Aftab is building financial infrastructure to help humanitarian organizations deliver assistance with greater security, efficiency, and accountability.

We welcome confidential discussions with organizations seeking to:

• Improve an existing assistance corridor

• Establish a new delivery mechanism

• Reduce dependence on traditional cash-transfer channels

• Strengthen beneficiary privacy and program oversight

Request a Confidential Consultation

Email hello@aftab.one to learn more and register interest in a pilot partnership.

Project Aftab — Connecting Humanitarian Resources to Human Needs.

This post is provided for informational purposes only. Project Aftab is in development and pilot preparation. Service availability is subject to applicable licensing, regulatory approvals, technical readiness, and individual partner agreements. Nothing in this post constitutes an offer of regulated financial services or securities.

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Frequently asked questions

General Overview

What is Project Aftab?

Project Aftab is a digital financial infrastructure platform designed to support humanitarian assistance in conflict-affected, fragile, and sanctioned environments.

The platform combines privacy-preserving verification, compliance controls, digital vouchers, and program oversight tools to help humanitarian organizations deliver assistance more securely, efficiently, and accountably.

What problem is Aftab designed to address?

International NGOs may face significant challenges when delivering financial assistance in difficult operating environments. Banking disruptions, sanctions restrictions, unreliable intermediaries, volatile exchange rates, security risks, and limited local infrastructure can delay assistance, increase costs, and prevent resources from reaching intended beneficiaries.

Aftab is designed to help organizations operate responsibly in these environments.

Who is Aftab intended for?

Aftab is intended for qualified international NGOs, humanitarian organizations, civil society organizations, and other authorized entities delivering lawful assistance programs.

Potential users may include organizations supporting displaced people, refugees, families, patients, and communities affected by conflict or economic disruption.

Is Aftab a bank or a money-transfer service?

Aftab is being developed as financial infrastructure for humanitarian assistance. It is not intended to replace an NGO’s program administration, donor relationships, or legal responsibilities.

The availability and structure of any services will depend on applicable laws, licenses, permissions, technical readiness, and individual partner agreements.

Is Aftab an intermediary between NGOs and beneficiaries?

Aftab is designed to provide infrastructure that helps NGOs reach beneficiaries directly through a controlled digital assistance system.

Organizations will be able to retain control over program design, beneficiary eligibility, funding, reporting, and oversight.

How Aftab Works

How does the Aftab platform work?

A planned program will involve five stages, subject to applicable approvals, technical readiness, and individual partner agreements:

1. Define the program: The NGO will be able to establish beneficiary eligibility, assistance amounts, payment schedules, and applicable authorizations.

2. Allocate assistance digitally: The NGO will be able to assign approved funding to digital vouchers, subject to the relevant funding and settlement arrangements.

3. Verify beneficiaries securely: The NGO will be able to conduct eligibility and compliance checks while minimizing unnecessary exposure of personal information.

4. Redeem assistance locally: Beneficiaries will be able to use vouchers with approved merchants to obtain essential goods or authorized services.

5. Maintain oversight: The NGO will be able to monitor distribution, review exceptions, and generate records for internal controls and reporting.

What are digital vouchers?

Digital vouchers are electronically issued units of assistance that can be redeemed through approved merchants for eligible goods or authorized services.

Aftab is designed to use a closed-loop voucher system, helping organizations control how assistance is distributed and redeemed.

Where can beneficiaries redeem vouchers?

Once the relevant program is deployed, beneficiaries will be able to redeem vouchers with approved local merchants participating in that program.

Merchant eligibility, redemption locations, available goods, and settlement arrangements will depend on the operating environment and the requirements of each NGO partner.

Can vouchers be used for cash withdrawals?

Aftab is designed primarily for controlled redemption of essential goods or authorized services rather than unrestricted cash withdrawals.

The permitted use of vouchers will depend on the program design, applicable regulations, and partner requirements.

Can Aftab be integrated with an NGO’s existing systems?

Once the API is live and the relevant deployment requirements are met, NGOs will be able to integrate Aftab with existing websites and operational systems through a customizable API.

The specific integration approach will depend on the NGO’s technical environment, program requirements, security standards, and pilot scope.

Compliance and Safeguards

How does Aftab support compliance?

Aftab is being developed to support applicable sanctions screening, anti-money-laundering, counter-terrorist-financing, beneficiary verification, and transaction-monitoring requirements.

Compliance procedures will be tailored to the relevant jurisdiction, funding source, program structure, and legal authorization.

Does Aftab guarantee compliance?

No platform can guarantee compliance in every circumstance.

Aftab is designed to provide controls and processes that support compliance, but each NGO remains responsible for its own legal, regulatory, safeguarding, and program obligations.

Deployment will depend on applicable laws, licenses, permissions, technical readiness, and partner requirements.

How does Aftab protect beneficiary privacy?

Aftab is designed to use privacy-preserving verification methods that confirm required eligibility and compliance information while limiting unnecessary disclosure of sensitive personal data.

The specific information collected, retained, and shared will depend on the program, applicable law, and verification requirements.

What happens if a transaction is flagged?

Flagged transactions may be held for review, suspended, or prevented from settlement where legally and technically possible.

The review process will depend on the nature of the alert, applicable requirements, and the procedures agreed with the NGO partner.

Does Aftab use transaction monitoring?

Aftab is being developed to support transaction monitoring and review.

Monitoring may include checks relating to sanctions, unusual activity, program rules, merchant activity, voucher use, and other relevant risk indicators.

Are there holding periods before settlement?

A planned holding period may be used to support screening, review, and risk assessment before settlement.

The length and application of any holding period will depend on the program structure, risk profile, applicable requirements, and technical implementation.

Is Aftab politically affiliated?

No. Aftab is designed as nonpartisan infrastructure for lawful humanitarian and civil society activities.

Each deployment will be assessed for legal, regulatory, operational, and safeguarding suitability.

Program Oversight and Accountability

What information can an NGO monitor?

Once the dashboard is live, and subject to the program design and applicable privacy requirements, an NGO will be able to monitor:

• Assistance allocations

• Beneficiary authorization status

• Voucher issuance and redemption

• Merchant activity

• Exceptions and flagged transactions

• Program-level performance information

• Settlement and reporting records

Can Aftab support donor reporting?

Aftab is designed to provide transaction and program records that may support internal controls, monitoring, evaluation, and donor reporting.

Reporting capabilities will depend on the implementation, data-access permissions, privacy requirements, and the NGO’s reporting framework.

Will NGOs retain control over their programs?

Yes. NGOs are expected to retain control over program design, beneficiary eligibility, assistance amounts, payment schedules, funding arrangements, and reporting requirements.

Aftab is being developed to provide the underlying infrastructure and tools needed to support the delivery process.

Costs and Efficiency

Why might traditional humanitarian transfers be expensive?

Traditional transfers may involve multiple intermediaries, correspondent banks, wire fees, currency conversions, exchange-rate losses, local cash brokers, and other delivery costs.

In difficult operating environments, these factors can create delays and reduce the amount of assistance that reaches beneficiaries.

What costs may arise in traditional delivery models?

Potential costs may include:

• Compliance and legal overhead
• Banking and wire fees
• Exchange-rate losses
• Last-mile cash distribution costs

Actual costs depend on the jurisdiction, transaction structure, funding source, delivery model, and local market conditions.

How does Aftab aim to reduce costs?

Aftab aims to reduce unnecessary dependence on complex payment chains, costly intermediaries, unfavorable currency conversions, and informal cash brokers.

Actual savings will vary by program and operating environment and will be assessed during the design and pilot phases.

Does Aftab guarantee cost savings?

No. Aftab does not guarantee a specific level of cost reduction.

The financial impact of a deployment will depend on the existing delivery model, local conditions, regulatory requirements, merchant arrangements, settlement structure, and program volume.

Potential Applications

What types of programs could Aftab support?

Subject to applicable approvals and partner requirements, Aftab may support programs involving:

• Humanitarian relief and essential household needs

• Medical and pharmaceutical assistance

• Civil society and community resilience initiatives

• Family assistance

• Other authorized economic-support programs

Can Aftab support medical assistance?

Potentially. Aftab may be used to support authorized medical, pharmaceutical, or health-related assistance programs where the relevant regulatory, operational, and safeguarding requirements can be met.

Each proposed use case will be assessed individually.

Can Aftab be used in sanctioned jurisdictions?

Potentially, but only where the proposed activity is lawful and all applicable licenses, permissions, exemptions, and compliance requirements have been satisfied.

Aftab does not authorize or enable prohibited transactions. Each operating corridor must be assessed individually.

Pilot Program

Where is the initial pilot planned?

Project Aftab is preparing an initial supervised pilot. Location details will be shared in closed conversations with prospective partners.

The final location, scope, timing, and operating model will depend on regulatory approvals, technical readiness, partner requirements, local infrastructure, and security conditions.

Who can participate in the pilot?

Qualified international NGOs, humanitarian organizations, and civil society partners may express interest in participating.

Potential partners will be assessed based on their program needs, legal status, operating capacity, safeguarding standards, compliance framework, and ability to support a supervised pilot.

What does the pilot include?

Pilot implementation is expected to include:

Technical Integration

Secure API integration, program configuration, and controlled testing.

Corridor and Partner Assessment

Review of regulatory requirements, local infrastructure, beneficiary needs, merchant eligibility, and settlement arrangements.

Supervised Deployment

A limited pilot designed to evaluate operational performance, compliance, beneficiary protection, cost efficiency, and user experience.

How will pilot success be measured?

Pilot performance measures may include:

• Successful beneficiary verification

• Voucher issuance and redemption rates

• Transaction processing times

• Merchant participation and settlement performance

• Compliance and monitoring outcomes

• Beneficiary privacy and user experience

• Program costs and operational efficiency

• Reporting quality and oversight capabilities

Specific performance measures will be developed with each partner organization.

What will the pilot cost?

Pilot pricing and implementation terms will be developed individually with each partner organization.

Costs may depend on integration requirements, program size, transaction volume, operating corridor, compliance needs, merchant arrangements, and reporting requirements.

Is the platform currently available?

Project Aftab is in development and pilot preparation.

A working minimum viable product has been developed, a core patent application has been filed, and licensing applications are in progress. Availability remains subject to applicable approvals, technical readiness, and individual partner agreements.

Partnering With Aftab

Why should an NGO consider partnering with Aftab?

An NGO may consider Aftab if it is seeking to:

• Improve an existing assistance corridor

• Establish a new delivery mechanism

• Reduce dependence on traditional cash-transfer channels

• Strengthen beneficiary privacy

• Improve program oversight

• Reduce operational friction

• Explore alternatives to unreliable or costly payment infrastructure

Will Aftab operate under the NGO’s brand?

Aftab is designed to support white-label implementation.

Once the API is live, and subject to the agreed deployment model, an NGO will be able to integrate the platform into its existing website or operational systems while retaining its own identity and donor relationships.

How can an organization request more information?

Organizations can email hello@aftab.one to learn more and register interest in a pilot partnership.

Project Aftab welcomes confidential discussions with qualified organizations evaluating humanitarian financial infrastructure.

What information should an interested organization provide?

An initial inquiry may include:

• Organization name and legal status

• Program location

• Intended beneficiary population

• Type and value of assistance

• Current delivery method

• Expected transaction volume

• Merchant or local-partner arrangements

• Relevant regulatory or donor requirements

• Technical integration needs

Providing this information can help determine whether a pilot may be suitable.

Important Notice

Project Aftab is in development and pilot preparation. Service availability is subject to applicable licensing, regulatory approvals, technical readiness, security conditions, and individual partner agreements.

Nothing in this FAQ constitutes an offer of regulated financial services or securities. Project Aftab does not authorize prohibited transactions and does not replace the legal, compliance, safeguarding, or reporting responsibilities of participating organizations.

Project Aftab — Connecting Humanitarian Resources to Human Needs.