Karachi: Pakistan’s retail payments surged 38% to 9.1 billion transactions during the fiscal year ending June 30, with 88% of them conducted through digital channels, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) said in its latest annual report on payment systems.
According to the report, retail payment values grew 12% year-on-year to Rs612 trillion, while the share of digital transactions increased to 29%, up from 21% in the previous fiscal year. The central bank attributed this strong growth to the rising use of mobile banking apps, internet banking, and e-money wallets, which continue to reshape the country’s payments landscape.
From FY19 to FY25, digital transactions expanded more than sixfold—from 1.3 billion to nearly 8 billion—while over-the-counter (OTC) transactions remained relatively steady between 1.0 and 1.2 billion annually. In FY25 alone, mobile banking apps facilitated over 6.2 billion transactions, reflecting a 52% growth in volume compared to 43% in the preceding year.
E-money wallets, though still a smaller segment of the market, showed the fastest growth, with both transaction volume and value doubling during the year. Internet banking also saw healthy progress, handling 0.3 billion payments by volume—an increase of 33% year-on-year.
The SBP identified Raast, Pakistan’s instant payment system, as a major driver of this digital shift. Transaction volumes through Raast increased more than eightfold over three years—from 147.2 million in FY23 to 1.27 billion in FY25—while transaction values rose from Rs3.1 trillion to Rs29.6 trillion.
Supporting this growth, the country’s point-of-sale (POS) network expanded to nearly 196,000 terminals across more than 159,000 merchant locations, enabling close to one million daily card payments compared to 0.7 million last year. The e-commerce sector also leaned heavily on digital channels, with 93% of online transactions processed via accounts and wallets.
Meanwhile, the ATM network grew by 7%, reaching 20,341 machines, each handling an average of 140 transactions daily. The SBP also upgraded the real-time gross settlement system to PRISM+, aimed at improving efficiency, transparency, and security in retail and large-value payments.
The central bank said these developments reflect a strong and sustained shift toward digital finance, marking a critical step toward a more inclusive and technology-driven financial ecosystem in Pakistan.
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