KARACHI: For the first time, number of retail payments in a quarter have crossed 2 billion mark, reaching to 2,143 million and registering an increase of 11 percent, while the value increased to Rs 154 trillion with a growth of 12 percent during the second quarter (Oct-Dec) of this fiscal year (FY25).
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Friday released its Quarterly Payment Systems Review for Second quarter of (Q2) FY25, providing a summary on payment systems and presenting notable changes in the country’s digital payments.
According to the report, in contrast to the past 5 quarters’ average of 5 percent for value, the value of retail payments during this quarter has witnessed a distinctively higher growth of 12 percent. The growth in value was primarily driven by mobile banking app payments, and internet banking payments, and over-the-counter (OTC) transactions at bank branches.
Digital channels drive 87pc of retail payments
The report said that Pakistan’s digital payment landscape strengthens as transactions continue to increase in Q2FY25 as well. Adoption of Raast in each quarter is seeing the increased momentum. A remarkable growth in Raast P2P was witnessed during the quarter with volume increasing to 294 million, up by 50 percent and value amounting to Rs 6.1 trillion, showing 32 percent growth. Further, for Raast P2M which was launched in December 2023, merchant onboarding continued at a rapid pace, as the number of merchants using Raast P2M service crossed 700,000 processing transactions amounting to Rs 2.9 billion in the quarter.
Going forward, the SBP believes that Raast P2M service is expected to see phenomenal growth due to its efficient and user-friendly payment and acceptance solutions for customers and merchants. Large-Value transactions-RTGS system, which processes large-value transactions, settled transactions totaling to Rs 330.5 trillion marking a quarterly growth of 3 percent in volume and 19 percent in value.
Digital payment channels processed 88 percent of all retail transactions by volume, with mobile app-based banking playing a crucial role. Digital channels processed 1,880 million transactions, whereas OTC channels processed 263 million transactions accounting for the remaining 12 percent share in retail payments. In comparison, Rs 45 trillion or 29 percent of the retail payments by value were made through digital channels, while Rs 109 trillion, up by 71 percent through OTC channels of banks branches and branchless banking agents. These platforms, which include mobile banking apps, branchless banking (BB) wallets, and e-Money wallets, collectively processed 1,450 million transactions worth Rs 24 trillion, marking a 12 percent increase in volume and 28 percent increase in value.
Mobile banking apps have collectively processed a total of 1,450 million payments of Rs 24 trillion during the quarter, with quarterly growth of 13 percent by volume and 28 percent by value. App-based banking is playing a key role in increasing digital payments. Transactions through these apps have a share in digital payments of 77 percent by volume and 53 percent by value.
The number of banks’ mobile app banking users has increased to 21 million, up by 7 percent, while users of mobile app-based wallets of EMIs and BBs have increased to 4.7 million, up by 13 percent and 64.3 million with a growth of 7 respectively during the quarter.
Users of internet banking portal grew by 13.3 million or 7 percent, conducting 69 million transactions valuing at Rs 9.7 trillion during the quarter. This translates to 4 percent of total digital payments by volume and 22 percent by value. This higher transactional value is due to the use of internet banking portals by corporate and business for the payment.
A total of 56.4 million cards were in circulation, with 88 percent consisting of debit cards and 4 percent credit cards. These payment cards were used to conduct 263 million transactions at ATMs, 99 million Payment Systems Quarterly Review Q2 of FY25 6 at POS and 28 million at e-commerce stores.
Number of Point-of-Sales (POS) machines increased to 151,646 by the quarter end processing 963,000 purchases a day at 115,177 merchants. In total, with a 7 percent growth 89 million transactions were conducted during the quarter amounting Rs 510 billion, up by 19 percent.
More than 152 million online e-commerce payments were made during the quarter with a quarterly growth of 30 percent by volume amounting to Rs 192 billion, rose by 32 percent by value.
By volume, 12.8 million (8 percent) of the e-commerce transactions were made through cards, 139.5 million (92 percent) through digital wallets/accounts, while by value, this share is 32 percent and 68 percent respectively.
As of quarter-end, banks and MFBs have enabled a total of 679,745 merchants. These merchants mainly accept digital payments through wallets and QR scan as an alternative to cash/card-based purchase payments. These merchants processed 22 million payments of PKR 58 billion during the quarter which was 4 percent higher than the previous quarter by volume and 9 percent by value.
It may be mentioned here that Pakistan’s transition towards a digital economy is being driven by SBP’s strategic initiatives and the collaborative efforts of banks, fintechs, and payment service providers. As digital payments continue to grow, SBP remains committed to fostering financial inclusion and enhancing payment efficiency for individuals and businesses alike.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
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