In its annual report, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has highlighted the noteworthy developments that occurred in the country’s payment ecosystem in the fiscal year 2023–2024. The report illustrates how Pakistan’s payment environment is gradually shifting to digital payments.
In FY24, the value of retail payments increased from Rs. 403 trillion to Rs. 547 trillion, representing a gain of almost 35 percent in both volume and value.
The amount of transactions increased from 4.7 billion to 6.4 billion. The percentage of digital payments by volume has increased significantly, rising from 76% in FY23 to 84% in FY24.
This growth is linked to the increasing number of people using digital channels, which is made possible by the variety and ease of use of goods provided by mobile wallets, online banking websites, and mobile banking applications.
Notably, during FY24, the number of people using mobile apps for banking climbed by 16 percent, that of people using internet banking by 25 percent, and that of Branchless Banking (BB) mobile app wallet users by 2 percent and e-wallet users by an astounding 85 percent yearly.
In addition, the study emphasizes the critical role that digital payments played through online banking portals and mobile banking applications, which together experienced a 74 percent rise in transaction value to Rs. 70 trillion and a 62 percent increase in transactions to 1,346 million.
