Retail payments in Pakistan recorded solid growth during the first quarter of FY26, with total transaction volumes rising to 2.8 billion, reflecting a 10 percent increase over the previous quarter, while the overall value of retail payments climbed 6 percent to PKR 166 trillion. The expansion was primarily driven by the continued rise in mobile app based banking, signaling deeper digital adoption across consumers, merchants, and businesses. Data released by State Bank of Pakistan highlights that sustained policy focus on digitization and improvements across banking and payment infrastructure continue to support the transition toward digital payment methods across the economy.
According to SBP Quarterly Report on Payment Systems, retail payments by volume were largely dominated by fund transfers, which accounted for 1,445 million transactions during the quarter. Merchant payments followed with 400 million transactions, while bill payments and top ups reached 353 million transactions. Cash withdrawals conducted through ATMs, bank branches, and agents totaled 311 million transactions, and cash deposits accounted for 87 million transactions. In terms of value, fund transfers remained the largest segment at PKR 123 trillion, followed by cash withdrawal and cash or instrument deposits amounting to PKR 28 trillion. Fund transfers were executed through a combination of digital channels such as mobile banking apps, internet banking, and ATMs, as well as over the counter channels including branchless banking agents and bank branches through cheques.
Digital payment channels continued to strengthen their share in retail payments, accounting for 2.5 billion transactions, or 90 percent of total retail payment volume during the quarter, compared to 87 percent in the same quarter last year. The value of transactions processed through digital channels reached PKR 55 trillion, underscoring their growing usage across the economy. Mobile app based payments remained the dominant digital channel, with 2.0 billion transactions carried out through applications offered by banks, branchless banking providers, and electronic money institutions. These transactions represented 81 percent of all digital payments and amounted to PKR 33.7 trillion in value. Mobile apps were used for a wide range of payments including person to person transfers, bill payments, and account and wallet based merchant payments at online platforms and physical retail outlets. Internet banking also showed steady expansion, with registered users rising to 15.2 million who conducted 82 million transactions valued at PKR 11.5 trillion during the quarter. Payment cards in circulation reached 61.3 million, of which 90 percent were debit cards and 4 percent were credit cards.
The Raast Instant Payment System continued to record strong growth momentum during the quarter. Person to person transactions through Raast increased to 535 million, marking a 31 percent rise, with a total value of PKR 11.3 trillion. Raast person to merchant transactions more than doubled to 4.3 million, amounting to PKR 17.0 billion, supported by the expanding base of QR enabled merchants. Overall, Raast processed 544 million transactions valued at PKR 12.8 trillion during Q1 FY26. Physical and digital infrastructure also remained active, with 20,527 ATMs facilitating 267 million transactions worth PKR 4.5 trillion, and PoS terminals and e commerce activity recording around 1.5 million daily card based transactions. Alongside these channels, 19,852 bank branches and 756,480 branchless banking agents continued to provide over the counter services, processing a combined volume of hundreds of millions of transactions and supporting the country’s evolving and increasingly digital payments ecosystem.
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