The federal government is advancing the digital transformation of the Central Directorate of National Savings, introducing a range of technology-driven services designed to reduce dependence on in-person visits to National Savings Centres and broaden access to savings instruments for millions of account holders across the country.
According to the Pakistan Economic Survey 2025-26, the Central Directorate of National Savings serves as the retail arm of the government’s savings network, offering National Savings Schemes tailored to small investors, pensioners, widows, and senior citizens. As of March 31, 2026, the National Savings Schemes portfolio stood at approximately Rs. 3.6 trillion, accounting for around 10 percent of Pakistan’s total banking deposits and 6.5 percent of total domestic debt, reflecting the scale and significance of the institution within the country’s broader financial architecture. The digitisation drive is designed to make this institutional infrastructure more accessible and efficient, particularly for account holders who have historically been required to visit physical centres for routine transactions.
Under the reforms, customers can now receive profit payments through cheques, automated teller machine withdrawals, and direct transfers via the Raast instant payment system, eliminating the need for many account holders to make repeated visits to savings centres for what are essentially routine disbursements. The Central Directorate of National Savings has also introduced a dedicated mobile application to facilitate digital access to savings products and account management services. Official figures show that approximately 350,000 debit cards had been issued by March 2026, while active mobile application users reached around 90,000, reflecting early but meaningful adoption of the digital service channels. A co-branded credit card developed in partnership with the Bank of Punjab has also been soft-launched as part of efforts to expand the range of digital financial products accessible to National Savings customers.
The reforms are taking place against a backdrop of broader challenges facing household savings in Pakistan. Despite the availability of National Savings Schemes at competitive profit rates, a large share of personal savings continues to flow into informal assets including real estate, gold, and foreign currency holdings rather than into formal savings instruments. Economic analysts have noted that declining real incomes and higher taxation in recent years have compressed household savings capacity, making it more important than ever for formal savings channels to be as accessible and convenient as possible. Greater digital accessibility is expected to encourage wider use of National Savings Schemes among segments of the population that are already smartphone-connected but have been deterred from engaging with formal savings institutions by the friction of in-person service requirements.
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