Digital Payments in Pakistan Surge as Mobile Banking and E-Commerce Lead Growth – SBP Q3-FY25 Report

Digital payment adoption in Pakistan continued its impressive growth in the third quarter of FY25, according to the State Bank of Pakistan’s (SBP) latest Quarterly Payment Systems Review. The country witnessed a significant increase in both transaction volumes and values, reflecting Pakistan’s accelerating shift toward a cashless economy.

Key Highlights from Q3-FY25:

• Retail Transactions Dominate Digitally:
  Digital channels accounted for 89% of all retail transactions by volume. Retail transaction volumes grew by 12% to 2,408 million, with the total value reaching Rs. 164 trillion.
• Mobile App-Based Payments Soar:
  Mobile platforms—including banking apps, branchless banking (BB) wallets, and e-money wallets—processed 1,686 million transactions worth Rs. 27 trillion, reflecting a 16% increase in volume and 22% in value from the previous quarter.
• User Base Expands Steadily:
  • Mobile banking users: 22.6 million (up 7%)
  • BB wallet users: 68.5 million (up 6%)
  • E-money wallet users: 5.3 million (up 12%)
  • Internet banking users: 14.1 million (up 7%)
• E-Commerce on the Rise:
  E-commerce payments saw a 40% increase in volume to 213 million transactions and a 34% increase in value to Rs. 258 billion.
  • Digital wallets dominated with 94% share (199.1 million transactions).
  • Card-based payments lagged behind with only a 6% share (13.5 million transactions).
• In-Store Digital Payments:
  • 99 million transactions worth Rs. 550 billion were processed via 140,861 merchants using 179,383 POS terminals.
  • QR code payments grew to 21.7 million transactions totaling Rs. 61 billion.
• SBP’s Payment Systems Drive Growth:
  • Raast (Instant Payment System):
    Processed 371 million transactions worth Rs. 8.5 trillion in Q3, reaching a cumulative total of 1.5 billion transactions valued at Rs. 34 trillion since launch.
  • RTGS (Real-Time Gross Settlement):
    Handled 1.5 million high-value transactions worth Rs. 347 trillion.

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The SBP continues to play a vital role in facilitating Pakistan’s digital transformation through regulatory support and collaborations with banks, fintechs, and payment service providers. The strong momentum in digital transactions is expected to further promote financial inclusion and payment efficiency across all sectors.