By Staff Reporter
KARACHI: Pakistan processed 3.7 billion retail banking transactions worth 168.8 trillion rupees in the January-March quarter, with digital channels accounting for the vast majority of that activity, the State Bank of Pakistan said on Thursday, underscoring the sweeping transformation of the country’s payments landscape.
The central bank’s quarterly payment systems report showed digital channels — spanning mobile banking apps, internet banking portals, ATMs, point-of-sale terminals, e-commerce platforms and USSD services — handled 3.4 billion transactions, or 92 percent of the total by volume, worth 68.3 trillion rupees. The figure was up from 64.4 trillion rupees in the preceding quarter.
Transaction volumes through formal banking channels rose 9 percent from the prior quarter, reflecting what the SBP described as deepening adoption of cashless payment methods across both consumers and businesses. The data excludes cash transactions conducted outside the formal banking system.
“Digital payment channels are becoming increasingly embedded in Pakistan’s financial ecosystem, reshaping the way individuals and businesses initiate, receive and manage payments,” the SBP said in its report.
Mobile apps power the surge
Mobile banking applications and digital wallets remained the engine of growth. During the quarter, 2.89 billion transactions worth 41.67 trillion rupees were conducted through apps offered by banks, branchless banking providers and electronic money institutions, representing 78 percent of all digital payment volumes.
Total mobile banking and digital wallet registrations reached 132 million by end-March, a 37 percent increase from 96 million a year earlier. Broken down, branchless banking mobile app users stood at 95.8 million, banking mobile app users at 28.9 million, and electronic money institution wallet users at 7.3 million. Internet banking registrations reached 16.2 million.
With Pakistan’s bank account base at roughly 268 million as of December 2025, approximately 49 percent of accounts are now linked to a mobile banking app or digital wallet.
Internet banking also recorded steady gains, with transaction volume and value rising 5 percent and 19 percent, respectively, from the previous quarter.
Raast instant payments expand sharply
Pakistan’s national instant payment system, Raast, maintained strong momentum during the quarter. The system processed 742 million transactions worth 23.27 trillion rupees in total.
Person-to-person transfers through Raast rose to 664 million transactions worth 18.88 trillion rupees, up from 603 million transactions valued at 15.69 trillion rupees in the previous quarter — a 10 percent increase in volume. Raast’s person-to-merchant service also accelerated sharply, with transaction volumes climbing to 55.9 million from 36.3 million in the prior quarter. More than 2.6 million merchants were onboarded or registered with Raast aliases by the end of March.
Cards, QR payments and e-commerce
Pakistan had 68.25 million payment cards in circulation at quarter-end, with debit cards accounting for 84 percent, or 57.2 million. Cards were used to conduct 272.2 million transactions worth 4.99 trillion rupees at ATMs, 150.4 million transactions worth 810 billion rupees at POS terminals, and 32.3 million transactions worth 140 billion rupees through e-commerce platforms.
QR-enabled merchant transactions grew sharply, rising 41 percent quarter-on-quarter to 87.3 million, with the corresponding value surging 63 percent to 500 billion rupees — a figure the SBP attributed to expanding merchant acceptance of digital payments.
Online purchases through account- and wallet-based channels reached 434.5 million transactions worth 470 billion rupees during the quarter.
Branch networks hold their ground
Despite the digital shift, the country’s physical banking infrastructure continued to serve a substantial share of activity. Pakistan’s 20,232 bank branches processed 128 million transactions worth 99.5 trillion rupees, while 819,397 branchless banking agents facilitated 155 million transactions worth 1.1 trillion rupees — largely through over-the-counter services such as cash deposits, withdrawals, fund transfers and bill payments.
The PRISM+ real-time gross settlement system, which handles large-value interbank transactions, settled 1.5 million transactions worth 389.8 trillion rupees during the quarter, with government securities settlements continuing to represent the largest component of PRISM+ activity by value.
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