EXP-008: Digital Gold Market Research — Round 2 Analysis

Islamabad & Rawalpindi · EasyPaisa & JazzCash Agents · Feb 21–22, 2026 · 20 Interviews

20 Interviews Islamabad & Rawalpindi EasyPaisa & JazzCash Agents
M

Interview Method — Sequential Sentiment Funnel

Who We Interviewed

EasyPaisa and JazzCash agents — these are small shopkeepers (grocery stores, mobile phone shops, general stores) who have a sticker on their door showing they're authorised agents for EasyPaisa or JazzCash, Pakistan's two dominant mobile money networks. Their day job is processing cash-in and cash-out for customers: someone walks in with Rs 5,000 cash, the agent transfers it digitally; someone else needs to withdraw, the agent hands them the cash. In return, they earn a small commission on every transaction.

We chose this group specifically because they already sell digital financial services for commission, already have a daily stream of customers doing money transactions, and are already comfortable operating a mobile app for financial products. If anyone could sell digital gold in Islamabad, it's them.  20 agents interviewed · Feb 21–22, 2026 · Islamabad & Rawalpindi

What Changed From Round 1
Round 1 Problem Round 2 Fix
Premium savings never mentioned Led with: "Jewelers charge 5–6% extra — that's Rs 30,000–40,000 per tola. This app gives real market price"
Redemption was vague ("can come in physical form") Said explicitly: "Buy and sell instantly — just hit a button. Want physical gold? Delivery from Dubai vault in about a week"
Fractional access unclear ("any amount") Said: "Even Rs 500 buys real gold"
Tested dollars AND gold together Gold-only pitch — dollars not mentioned at all
No sentiment tracking per section Reaction captured after each part — this is how we measure what moves people
Trust barriers not addressed Pitch proactively covers: vault location, instant transactions, physical delivery
Section 1 — Baseline (1 minute)
Purpose: Understand if gold is already on their radar and if they know about jeweler markups.
Q1
"Gold has been everywhere lately — people around you have probably been talking about it, you've seen in the news the market has gone up. Have you been hearing more about gold recently?"
→ Wait for answer. Note their response. Measures: is gold already in the shopkeeper's world, or are we introducing a concept they've never thought about?
Q2
"Do you know how much extra a jeweler charges over the market price?"
→ Wait for answer. Most won't know the exact number — that's fine, it sets up the premium argument in Section 2. Measures: markup awareness baseline.
Section 2 — The Gold Pitch (2–3 minutes)
Purpose: Deliver the pitch in 3 parts. Pause after each part to capture the merchant's unfiltered reaction before moving on.
Part A — Product Introduction
SAY: "Imagine real gold, on your phone. Stored in a secure vault in Dubai. You can buy as little as Rs 500 worth — and it's real gold, yours."
Q3
"What's your first reaction to that?"
→ Note their initial sentiment before you explain the economics. This is the baseline we compare Q4 against.
Part B — Premium Economics ← The Key Part
SAY: "Here's the thing about jewelers — they charge 5–6% over the real market price. On one tola, that's an extra Rs 30,000 to 40,000. With this app, you buy at the real price. No markup."
→ This is the most important moment. Watch their face. Did they lean in? Light up? Stay flat?
Q4
"If your customers could skip that jeweler markup and get gold at real market price, would they be interested?"
→ Did their sentiment change from Q3? This is our #1 metric. A merchant who was skeptical at Q3 but positive at Q4 = the economics argument worked. No change = it didn't move them. R2 result: 6/20 (30%) shifted positive — below the 50% threshold we needed.
Part C — Instant Access + Redemption
SAY: "Buying and selling is instant — just hit a button. Want physical gold? Request delivery from the vault, it reaches you in about a week. Or you can sell anytime at market price."
Q5
"Does knowing you can buy and sell instantly — and get physical delivery — change how you feel about it?"
→ Note: did this resolve any "I need gold in my hands" concerns? In Round 1 this was the #1 barrier — 4 merchants raised it unprompted.
Section 3 — Shopkeeper Buy-In (2 minutes)
Purpose: Find out if they would actually sell this product to their customers — like they do with EasyPaisa or JazzCash services.
Q6
"If you could earn commission selling this — like you do with EasyPaisa or JazzCash — would you?"
→ Note: Yes / Maybe / No. R2 result: 7/20 (35%) said yes — below the 40% threshold needed.
Q7
"What would you need to see before you'd feel comfortable selling this?"
→ Open-ended. Let them talk. Don't prompt — just listen and note everything. This is where barriers surface.
Q8
"Say a customer wants to buy gold for Rs 1,000. Could you tell them: 'This app gives you gold at a better price than the jeweler, and you can get it delivered whenever you want'?"
→ Note: would they feel confident making that pitch to a real customer? Can the merchant relay the value prop in their own words?
0

Executive Summary & Signal Matrix

Recommendation
ITERATE

What is this? ZAR is exploring whether it can expand from digital dollars into digital gold — gold that lives in a secure vault, bought and sold instantly through a mobile app. The question is whether EasyPaisa and JazzCash agents (the shopkeepers who already sell mobile money services for commission across Islamabad) would also sell digital gold to their customers. This is Round 2 of discovery research. Round 1 (14 shopkeepers, Rawalpindi) tested a vague concept. Round 2 tests a specific economic argument: jewelers charge 5–6% over the real gold price — that's Rs 30,000–40,000 extra per tola — and this app eliminates that markup entirely. We ran 18 interviews across Islamabad on February 21–22, 2026 to find out: does that savings argument move shopkeepers from skeptical to interested?

1 confirmed green (behavioral demand), 2 red (sentiment shift and distribution willingness both below threshold), 1 unknown (48-hour callback pending). The primary structural blocker is a trust deficit left by fraudulent investment apps — specifically a wave of scam apps from around 2012–2015 that promised high digital investment returns, collected millions of rupees from everyday people, and then collapsed. The memory of those losses is still live in this community, and a pitch about "digital gold on an app" triggers that same pattern-match immediately.

The jeweler markup argument lands with merchants who already have markup awareness. It fails to move merchants who lack that baseline. The pitch needs an institutional anchor before Round 3.

Next action: Run 48h callback on all phone-number-givers. If ≥30% pass all 3 gates, upgrade to PROCEED. If <15%, design Round 3 with trust-resolution centerpiece.
🟢
Behavioral Demand
Threshold: ≥3 merchants
4 / 18
GREEN
🔴
Q4 Sentiment Shift
Threshold: ≥50%
33%
RED
🔴
Distribution Willingness
Threshold: ≥40% (Q6=Yes)
33%
RED
⚪
48h Callback
Threshold: ≥30% all 3 gates
Pending
UNKNOWN
1

Round 1 vs Round 2 Comparison

Round 1 — Rawalpindi (n=14)

DateFeb 12, 2026
Preferred gold over dollars4/14 (29%)
Positive sentiment5/14 (36%)
Jeweler markup pitch tested0/14 (0%)
Top barrierPhysical possession
#2 barrierTrust/legitimacy

Round 2 — Islamabad & Rawalpindi (n=20)

DatesFeb 21–22, 2026
Q4 positive shift6/20 (30%)
Positive/excited4/20 (20%)
Jeweler markup pitch tested20/20 (100%)
Top barrierTrust/scam app memory
#2 barrierPhysical possession
Metric R1 R2 Direction
Sample size 14 20 ↑ +6
Markup argument tested No Yes ↑ New
Excited/strongly positive 5/14 (36%) 4/20 (20%) ↓ −16pp
#1 barrier Physical possession anxiety Fraud/scam app memory ↕ Shifted
Behavioral signals observed ~2–3 4 confirmed ↑ Improved
Distribution willingness Not tested 7/20 (35%) ↕ Baseline
Physical possession anxiety dropped from #1 to #2. Trust/legitimacy rose to #1 — the redemption clarity pitch helped address the possession barrier, but exposed a deeper trust layer: community memory of fraudulent investment apps that collected people's money and disappeared. The markup argument alone cannot overcome that.
2

Q4 Sentiment Shift — Critical Metric

What is "Q4 shift"? The interview delivers the pitch in stages. After Q3 (the merchant hears "real gold on your phone, Rs 500 minimum"), we record their gut reaction. Then we deliver the markup argument — "jewelers charge Rs 50–80K extra per tola; this app gives the real rate." Q4 asks: does that economics argument change their mind? A "shifted" merchant was neutral or skeptical at Q3, then said "yes, customers would be interested" at Q4. "No shift" means the markup argument didn't move them. This is the single most important metric: we're testing whether one specific economic argument can unlock merchant sentiment.
Q4 Reaction to Jeweler Markup Argument — did it move them? (n=20)
30% — BELOW 50% threshold
ID Overall Segment Q3 Baseline Q4 Shift Key Quote / Signal
R2-01 Skeptical Confused/hesitant — "I don't know" No shift "I think it is good — but we'll check first if it's legal. From government, from proof." (conditional throughout)
R2-02 Excited Positive — investment asset Shifted ↑ Strong "I will buy from the app, not the market. I'm more interested in the app."
R2-03 Skeptical Positive concept, vague No shift "No idea of this. Customer will come here."
R2-04 Skeptical Skeptical — concept unclear No shift "It is difficult." (Q4 on customer interest)
R2-05 Skeptical 50/50 on trust ("50-50 whether to trust") No shift "Opinion on digital platforms is not good. Mostly such apps are made in vain."
R2-06 Curious Interested if rate differs Moderate ↑ "Buy one gram every month — that will be my investment and also my asset."
R2-07 Negative Dismissive ("not there") Shifted ↓ Neg "No, this is not our work. We only have what we have."
R2-08 Excited Interested — no major objection Shifted ↑ Strong Willingly engaged through full pitch, would educate customers.
R2-09 Curious Never bought gold, open Moderate ↑ "Definitely should happen — if you save even 20–30K per tola, that's enough."
R2-10 Excited Very good — investment angle Shifted ↑ Strong "Will tell customers, friends, and all family members."
R2-11 Skeptical No prior gold exposure No shift "Is this illegal? Fraud is everywhere in Pakistan. I'll save myself."
R2-12 Skeptical Trust is prerequisite No shift "If trust is built, many people will do it. No need to go to the market."
R2-13 Excited Very positive — Easy Money parallel Shifted ↑ Strong "Every second person is on Easy Money. This will go forward, Insha Allah."
R2-14 Negative Skeptical — "invisible gold" No shift "In Rs 500, that would be invisible gold. Physically, it won't be there."
R2-15 Skeptical Neutral, needs COD No shift "Cash on delivery would be better. When goods reach customer, money moves."
R2-16 Negative Skeptical — scam app named Blocked "Fraudulent investment apps came, people invested millions — it all collapsed. Without government approval, no."
R2-17 Skeptical Willing to experiment small No shift "Take Rs 1,000 first, check it — if withdrawal is easy, trust builds."
R2-18 Skeptical Interested but distracted No shift "One extra task disturbs us. One shop, one job. That's our experience."
R2-19 Skeptical Curious — CS student No shift "Privacy and transaction security are two main things in building trust."
R2-20 Curious Positive — investment-minded ("great initiative") No shift "If the commission is good, we can do our best. Need govt connection and physical firm proof first." (50-50, conditional)
Pattern: All 4 merchants who showed strong positive Q4 shift (R2-02, R2-08, R2-10, R2-13) had pre-existing markup awareness going into Q2/Q3. The argument only works when there's a cognitive anchor to hook onto. Merchants without markup awareness treat "jeweler charges extra" as an unverifiable claim.
3

Merchant Segments

⭐
Excited
20%
R2-02, R2-08, R2-10, R2-13
4 merchants · Early adopter cluster
🔍
Curious
15%
R2-06, R2-09, R2-20
3 merchants · Investment-minded
⚖️
Skeptical
55%
R2-01, R2-03, R2-04, R2-05, R2-11, R2-12, R2-15, R2-16, R2-17, R2-18, R2-19
3 sub-archetypes: trust-first, operational, fraud-wary
✖️
Negative
10%
R2-07, R2-14
2 merchants · Hard blockers
Skeptical sub-archetypes: (1) Trust-first — need proof before engaging at all (R2-11, R2-12, R2-16); (2) Operational-friction — interested but one-job-per-shop constraint (R2-18); (3) Incremental — willing to experiment small and scale if verified (R2-05, R2-17, R2-19).
4

Top 5 Barriers

Barrier Frequency (out of 20 merchants)
# Barrier Freq % Key Quote Addressable?
1 Fraud/legitimacy — memory of scam investment apps
10
50% "Those investment apps came, people put in millions — it all collapsed. You can't just walk in and say digital." (R2-16) Partially
Needs institutional proof
2 Physical possession anxiety
6
30% "That would be invisible gold. Physically, it won't be there." (R2-14) Yes
Vault cert + redemption demo
3 Regulatory/government backing absent
5
25% "If government approves it, people will come. Without that — no." (R2-16) Partially
Legal clarity doc
4 Mechanics / hidden deductions
4
20% "If no deduction is taken, full money comes — that's the benefit." (R2-18) Yes
Explicit fee disclosure
5 Operational burden / extra workload
4
20% "One shop, one job. That's our experience. Extra work disturbs us." (R2-18) Partially
Minimal-friction UX
R1→R2 barrier shift: Physical possession (#1 in Round 1) dropped to #2. Fraud/trust concerns rose to #1 — this was unlocked by Round 2's more specific pitch. When you go deeper on "real gold at market price," merchants surface the deeper trust debt left by fraudulent digital investment apps. This is progress: we found the actual blocker.
5

Behavioral Signals Tracker

4/20 — GREEN ✓ (threshold ≥3)
Action Observed Merchant Evidence Signal Type
Volunteered to buy through app unprompted R2-02 "I will buy from the app, not the market. Will also check the price." Purchase intent
Asked about launch date / current status R2-09 Asked how intraday gold works, when app launches Timing urgency
Compared to Easy Money — said "will go forward" R2-10 "If app is launched and everything is as stated — very good." Would tell all family. Referral intent
Drew Easy Money parallel independently; wanted WhatsApp R2-13 "Every second person is on Easy Money. If trustable, no doubt — will buy and add." Noted R1 type questions unprompted. Referral + distribute
Key pattern: All 4 behavioral signals came from the EXCITED segment. This is not random distribution — it's a tight early adopter cluster. These 4 are your evangelists. R2-13 is ready for a WhatsApp early-access group today.
6

Trust Infrastructure Gap

🔴 The Problem

  • 3+ merchants named fraudulent investment apps unprompted — this is community memory, not individual skepticism
  • Around 2012–2015, a wave of digital "investment" apps in Pakistan promised high returns, attracted millions of rupees from ordinary people, then collapsed or disappeared
  • The damage spread socially: neighbors told neighbors. An entire generation of small shopkeepers learned that "digital investment app" = scam
  • Any new "digital gold app" immediately triggers that same pattern-match, regardless of how it actually works

🟠 What Won't Work

  • More messaging or a better pitch deck
  • Additional features (won't help if foundation is absent)
  • "Vault in Dubai" framing — further away = less verifiable, not more secure
  • Enthusiasm from the ambassador
  • Small commissions as trust proxies

🟢 Required Trust Stack

  • Institutional anchor — named PK bank or regulated partner on screen
  • Regulatory clarity doc — SBP/SECP acknowledgement or legal brief
  • Physical proof — vault certificate, ideally with PK auditor
  • Community proof — existing merchants who used redemption (show, don't tell)
7

Key Quotes Gallery

"

I will buy from the app, not the market. I'm more interested in the app. Because everything is happening online — if it becomes safe and secure, it's much better.

R2-02 Excited Q4 — Markup Argument
"

Every second person is on Easy Money. There's no phone without it. Insha Allah, this will also go forward. If it's a trustable app, there's no doubt — will buy and recommend.

R2-13 Excited Q3–Q4
"

I will tell my customers. I will tell my friends. I will tell everyone in my family. I will also agree — it is a good thing that a person can carry.

R2-10 Excited Q6 Distribution
"

If it is real then — 100% we will buy it. Now there are so many customers on Easy Money. On this also, Insha Allah will take us forward again.

R2-13 Excited Q3 First Reaction
"

In Rs 500, what gold will be there? That would be invisible gold. Physically, there will not be gold there. Until a person sees something in front of his eyes, he doesn't trust it.

R2-14 Negative Q3 First Reaction
"

Those apps came. People invested at high percentage returns. The app closed. Millions and crores went. Without government approval — I cannot recommend this to anyone.

R2-16 Negative Q5 Trust
"

Is this illegal or legal? In Pakistan, fraud is happening. A person who has a little album will save himself. He won't do it without understanding.

R2-11 Skeptical Q7 Barriers
"

Take Rs 1,000 first. Check it — if withdrawal is easy, there's no hurdle, the person's trust will build. Then step by step, Rs 10,000, Rs 1 lakh. It's all about reliability and easy access.

R2-17 Skeptical Q3 First Reaction
"

If you save even 20–30K per tola, that's enough. Definitely should happen. [Unprompted:] If there is a notice or banner so customers can see there's such an option in this shop — I'd guide everyone.

R2-09 Curious Structural Insight
"

Buy one gram from the app every month. I can't afford a full tola now — but 10 months of Rs 500–1,000 and that's my investment and my asset. That's the idea that gives more value.

R2-06 Curious Structural Insight — Fractional
9

Recommendation & Next Steps

Current Recommendation
ITERATE

1 of 4 signals green. Trust infrastructure is the structural blocker — the jeweler markup argument is a real value prop that lands with merchants who have markup awareness, but it cannot overcome the community-memory of collapsed investment apps alone. The product needs an institutional anchor before another round of interviews.

✅ If callback strong (>30%)

  • Upgrade to PROCEED
  • Initiate product scoping sprint
  • Identify vault partner (preferably PK-based or PK-audited)
  • Model commission economics (target 1–3% on sale)
  • Prepare SBP/SECP regulatory brief
  • Activate 4 evangelists as beta testers

⚠️ If callback weak (<15%)

  • Remain ITERATE
  • Design Round 3 with trust-resolution centerpiece
  • Source institutional anchor before field work
  • Add vault certificate to physical pitch materials
  • Reframe Rs 500 → tola-building framing
  • Add Easy Money bridge explicitly to script
Feed-forward → EXP-008 Round 3: Trust-resolved pitch with (1) named institutional anchor + (2) vault certificate physical artifact + (3) Easy Money framing + (4) community proof from existing redemptions. Target n=20 fresh Islamabad zones, different areas from Feb 21–22 routes (G-10/11, E-7/E-8, Sector I-8/I-9 markets).
EXP-008 — Round 2 — Feb 2026 ZAR Ground Force Experiments Round 1 →