State Bank reports 58% rise in retail payment volume
Digital payment activity in Pakistan expanded sharply in financial year 2025-26, according to the State Bank of Pakistan's annual Payment Systems Review, which recorded a 58 per cent increase in retail payment volume and a total retail payment value of Rs673 trillion.
Formal banking channels processed 14.3 billion retail transactions during the year, the central bank reported, of which digital channels accounted for 13.2 billion. The share of digital channels in total retail payments rose to 92 per cent, up from 88 per cent in financial year 2024-25, while digital payment volume grew 65 per cent year-on-year.
Mobile payments drove much of that growth. Transactions initiated on mobile phones exceeded 11.1 billion, a 79 per cent annual increase, the State Bank said. Internet banking recorded 300 million transactions, up 15 per cent on the previous year.
The country's payment infrastructure also expanded. Point-of-sale terminals reached 337,791 units installed at 295,367 merchant locations, and daily card payments through POS terminals rose to about 1.5 million from nearly one million previously. The State Bank said account-based payments represented 96 per cent of e-commerce payments processed through banking channels.
On the customer side, branchless banking mobile app users reached 99.1 million and bank mobile app users stood at 30.4 million. The State Bank said smartphone use is increasing rapidly in everyday banking activity.
