KARACHI: Digital payments accounted for 88 percent of retail transactions in Pakistan in the outgoing fiscal year, the Pakistani central bank said on Monday, amid Islamabad’s push for digitization to transform its $400 billion economy.
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) said this in its Annual Report on Payment Systems, which presented a comprehensive analysis of current payment ecosystem, key evolving trends shaping the payment landscapes, and notable developments in fiscal year 2024-25 that ended in June.
The report illustrated swift expansion of Pakistan’s payments landscape over the past fiscal year, catalyzed by regulatory initiatives, the expansion of digital infrastructure, and strong consumer adoption of mobile and Internet-based platforms.
“Retail payments registered robust growth, reaching 9.1 billion transactions worth PKR612 trillion ($2.164 trillion), and witnessing an increase of 38 percent in terms of volume and 12 percent in value on a YoY [year-on-year] basis,” the SBP said, adding that digital channels continued to demonstrate steady momentum as Pakistanis increasingly embraced mobile apps, Internet banking and e-money wallets.
“Payments through digital channels accounted for 88 percent of all retail transactions, growing from 78 percent in FY23 and 85 percent in FY24. Mobile banking apps led with over 6.2 billion transactions, witnessing growth of 52 percent, while Internet banking portals processed 297 million transactions, up 33 percent from the previous year.”
