By Staff reporter
KARACHI: Pakistan’s retail payments climbed to Rs166 trillion ($592 billion) in the first quarter of the fiscal year, a 6% increase from the prior period, fueled by a rapid expansion in mobile app-based banking, according to the central bank.
The volume of transactions rose 10% to 2.8 billion, the State Bank of Pakistan said in its quarterly report on payment systems released on Tuesday. “This expansion was primarily driven by the continued rise in mobile app-based banking,” the report said. Digital channels handled 2.5 billion transactions, accounting for 90% of total retail payments, up from 87% a year earlier.
The value of those digital transactions hit Rs55 trillion, highlighting broader adoption across the economy. Mobile apps led the charge, with 2 billion transactions processed through platforms offered by banks, branchless banking providers and electronic money institutions. “These transactions constituted 81% of all digital payments and amounted to Rs33.7 trillion in value,” the report said.
The channel supports a range of activities, including person-to-person transfers, bill payments and merchant transactions at online and physical outlets. Internet banking also posted steady gains, with more users turning to digital options. Payment cards in circulation reached 61.3 million, of which 90% are debit cards and 4% are credit cards, the central bank said.
The Raast instant payment system maintained robust growth. Person-to-person transactions jumped 31% to 535 million, valued at Rs11.3 trillion. Person-to-merchant activity doubled to 4.3 million transactions worth Rs17 billion. In total, Raast processed 544 million transactions amounting to Rs12.8 trillion.
Point-of-sale terminals and e-commerce showed continued expansion, with 1.5 million daily card-based transactions. A network of 20,527 automated teller machines handled 267 million transactions totaling Rs4.5 trillion, or an average of 142 transactions per ATM per day at Rs16,800 each.
Traditional channels remain vital. The country’s 19,852 bank branches processed 137 million transactions worth Rs110 trillion, while 756,480 branchless banking agents facilitated 129 million deals amounting to 0.9 trillion rupees, including cash deposits, withdrawals, transfers and bill payments. “These developments collectively reflect continued progress toward a more inclusive, efficient, and digitally enabled payments ecosystem in Pakistan,” the central bank said.
The surge underscores Pakistan’s push toward financial inclusion amid efforts to digitize the economy, which has a population of more than 240 million and where cash has long dominated. The central bank has promoted initiatives like Raast to cut transaction costs and boost efficiency, helping integrate more people into the formal banking system.
Copyright © 2021 Independent Pakistan | All rights reserved
