The State Bank has released the review of the payment system for the third quarter of fiscal year 2025, which presents notable changes in the digital payments landscape of the country along with a summary of the payment system.
According to the statement issued by the State Bank, the trend of increase in the country’s digital payments continued during the third quarter of fiscal year 2025, and a significant rise was seen in the volume and value of transactions.
The volume of retail payments increased by 12% to reach 2,408 million transactions, while the total value of transactions grew by 8% to reach 164 trillion Pakistani rupees.
In overall retail transactions, the share of transactions through digital channels remained 89%. A total of 1,686 million transactions amounting to 27 trillion rupees were processed through mobile app-based platforms including mobile banking apps, branchless banking wallets, and e-money wallets, showing a 16% increase in volume and a 22% increase in value.
The number of people using digital banking services also increased. The users of mobile banking apps rose to 22.6 million (an increase of 7%), the users of e-money and branchless banking wallets increased to 5.3 million (12% increase) and 68.5 million (6% increase) respectively, while the number of internet banking users reached 14.1 million (7% increase).
Compared to the previous quarter, the volume of e-commerce payments increased by 40% to reach 213 million, with their value rising by 34% to 258 billion rupees. The share of digital wallets in e-commerce payments was the highest at 94% (199.1 million) in terms of value, while the share of card-based online payments was only 6% (13.5 million).
In-store purchases processed 99 million (12% increase) transactions worth 550 billion rupees (8% increase) through 140,861 merchants using 179,383 point-of-sale networks. Furthermore, merchants accepting payments through QR codes processed 21.7 million transactions amounting to 61 billion rupees.
Payment systems operated under the State Bank, such as Raast (instant payment system) and RTGS (Real-Time Gross Settlement), have played an important role in increasing digital payments in the country. The instant payment system Raast processed 371 million transactions worth 8.5 trillion rupees during the quarter, bringing the total volume of transactions since Raast’s inception to 1.5 billion and their value to 34 trillion rupees. Through RTGS, 8.5 million high-value payments were made amounting to 347 trillion rupees.
The transition towards a digital economy is part of the State Bank’s strategic initiatives, which also include coordinated efforts of banks, fintechs, and payment service providers. As digital payments continue to grow, the State Bank is committed to promoting financial inclusion and further improving payments for all stakeholders.
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