The State Bank of Pakistan has released its Quarterly Report on Payment Systems, revealing that digital channels accounted for 92 percent of all retail transactions conducted in Pakistan during the second quarter of financial year 2025-26, covering the period from October to December 2025. The figure represents a notable increase from 88 percent recorded in the same quarter of the previous year, reflecting the continued and accelerating shift in consumer behaviour toward cashless and app-based financial transactions across the country. In total, 3.4 billion retail transactions were processed during the quarter, of which 3.1 billion were conducted through digital channels, amounting to a combined value of 64 trillion rupees. Overall retail transaction value reached 167 trillion rupees during the period, growing by 7 percent over the previous quarter, while transaction volumes rose by 8 percent.
Mobile application-based payments continued to dominate the digital payments landscape by a considerable margin. A total of 2.6 billion transactions were conducted through applications offered by branchless banking players, commercial banks, and electronic money institutions, collectively accounting for 83 percent of all digital payments and amounting to 40 trillion rupees in value. These transactions supported a broad range of financial activities including person-to-person transfers, utility bill payments, and merchant payments across both online platforms and physical retail outlets. Internet banking also recorded healthy growth alongside mobile payments, with transaction volume increasing by 11 percent and value growing by 22 percent over the quarter, indicating that web-based banking channels continue to retain a meaningful and expanding user base even as mobile applications dominate the wider digital payments mix.
Pakistan’s Raast Instant Payment System maintained strong growth momentum during the quarter, processing 645.7 million transactions valued at 18.5 trillion rupees. Person-to-person transactions through Raast rose to 603 million, a 13 percent increase, with a combined value of 15.7 trillion rupees, while Raast’s person-to-merchant transactions reached 33.6 million, amounting to 167.6 billion rupees. Raast Bulk Service, used by government entities and corporate customers, processed over nine million transactions worth 2.6 trillion rupees, demonstrating rapid institutional adoption of the system for large-scale payment disbursements. On the cards and physical infrastructure front, the total number of payment cards in circulation reached 66.7 million, with debit cards comprising 87 percent of the total. Point-of-sale terminals and e-commerce channels collectively processed approximately 1.7 million card-based transactions per day, while a nationwide network of 20,976 automated teller machines facilitated 277 million transactions worth 4.9 trillion rupees. Banking agents, numbering 763,262 across the country, facilitated 135 million over-the-counter transactions, complementing the 138 million transactions processed through 20,143 bank branches, together ensuring that formal financial services remain accessible across both urban and rural Pakistan.
Follow the SPIN IDG WhatsApp Channel for updates across the Smart Pakistan Insights Network covering all of Pakistan’s technology ecosystem.
