Around 92 per cent of retail transactions conducted through formal banking channels were processed digitally during FY26, reflecting a significant shift towards digital payment methods, according to the State Bank of Pakistan’s (SBP) Annual Report on Payment Systems.
The report said 14.3 billion transactions were carried out through formal banking channels during the fiscal year, of which 13.2 billion were processed through digital channels. Digital transactions recorded year-on-year growth of 65pc.
Overall retail payments through formal banking channels increased significantly during FY26, reaching 14.3 billion transactions worth Rs673 trillion. The volume of transactions grew by 58pc year-on-year, while their value increased by 10pc.
The SBP said digital payment channels continued to gain popularity as consumers increasingly relied on mobile banking applications, internet banking and e-money wallets for routine transactions.
Mobile phone-based payment solutions accounted for the largest share of the digital growth, processing more than 11.1 billion transactions, up 79pc from the previous fiscal year. Meanwhile, internet banking platforms handled around 300 million transactions, registering 15pc growth.
The report attributed part of the increase to the expansion of digital payment acceptance infrastructure at merchant and retail outlets.
The Point of Sale (POS) network expanded to 337,791 terminals across 295,367 merchant locations, facilitating nearly 1.5 million card payments daily, compared with around one million per day in the previous fiscal year.
E-commerce payments also continued to expand, with account-based online payments accounting for 96pc of all e-commerce transactions conducted through banking channels, the report said.
The number of users of branchless banking mobile applications increased to 99.1 million, while the number of bank mobile app users reached 30.4 million, underscoring the growing reliance on smartphone-based platforms for everyday banking services.
The SBP also highlighted the introduction of PRISM+ in August last year as a major development in the country’s payment infrastructure. The initiative marked the transition of the Real-Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) system to the ISO 20022 international messaging standard.
