Pakistan recorded 14.3 billion retail payment transactions worth PKR 673 trillion in FY26, with digital channels accounting for 13.2 billion transactions.
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has reported a sharp expansion in digital payments during fiscal year 2025-26, as consumers, businesses and financial institutions increasingly shifted towards mobile banking, internet banking, e-money wallets and QR-based payment solutions.
According to the SBP’s Annual Report on Payment Systems, retail payments through formal banking channels reached 14.3 billion transactions worth PKR 673 trillion during FY26. Transaction volume increased 58% year-on-year, while the value of payments rose 10%.
Digital Channels Drive Payment Growth
Digital channels accounted for 13.2 billion transactions, representing 65% growth from the previous fiscal year. Their share of total retail payment transactions rose to 92%, compared with 88% in FY25.
Mobile phone-based solutions remained the largest contributor, processing more than 11.1 billion transactions, up 79% year-on-year. Internet banking portals handled around 300 million transactions, registering 15% growth during the year.
The expansion of digital payment acceptance infrastructure also supported the shift towards cashless transactions. The country’s point-of-sale (POS) network expanded to 337,791 terminals across 295,367 merchant locations, supporting nearly 1.5 million card payments a day, compared with around 1 million daily payments in the previous fiscal year.
E-commerce payments also continued to expand, with account-based online payments accounting for 96% of e-commerce transactions conducted through banking channels.
Smartphone Banking Gains Momentum
The growing adoption of smartphone-based financial services was reflected in the number of users of digital banking platforms.
Branchless banking mobile app users increased to 99.1 million, while banks’ mobile app users reached 30.4 million, highlighting the continued shift of routine financial activities towards mobile platforms.
The SBP said the transformation has been supported by policy measures, improvements in digital infrastructure and industry-led initiatives aimed at strengthening Pakistan’s formal payment ecosystem.
PRISM+ Upgrades Payment Infrastructure
A major development during FY26 was the launch of PRISM+ in August 2025, which moved Pakistan’s real-time gross settlement system to the ISO 20022 international messaging standard.
The upgraded system is designed to improve the efficiency, transparency and security of payment processing across retail and large-value transactions.
With PRISM+, Pakistan now has both wholesale and retail instant payment systems based on ISO 20022, marking another step in the modernisation of the country’s payment infrastructure.
The SBP said it remains focused on developing secure, efficient and inclusive payment systems while strengthening financial infrastructure in line with technological developments and international practices.