Cashless Pakistan Initiative tops 2m active digital payment merchants

July 07, 2026 (MLN): Pakistan's Cashless Pakistan initiative has achieved major milestones in its first year, with the number of active merchants accepting digital payments increasing fourfold to more than 2 million, according to a progress review chaired by Minister of State for Railways and Finance Bilal Azhar Kayani.

The high-level meeting at the Finance Division reviewed the one-year progress of the initiative, launched in June 2025 under the Prime Minister's supervision to promote public convenience, transparency, and a more documented economy through digital payments.

During the review, officials highlighted that annual digital transactions surged from 6.9 billion to 11.3 billion, while the number of digital banking users expanded to over 135 million.

The increase in digital payment merchants was supported by the government's Raast QR Code initiative.

The minister also reviewed progress in financial inclusion, which has risen to 69%, while noting continued efforts to reduce the gender gap through targeted interventions.

On public sector digitization, Kayani said 25 high-impact federal and provincial entities have been identified for complete digitization through Raast by December 2026.

He added that around 75% of government-to-person (G2P) payment acceptance has already been digitized across centralized and self-accounting entities.

To ensure transparency and efficient use of public funds, the minister directed authorities to validate reported progress, address reporting gaps, and eliminate data duplication.

He noted that the government has engaged an independent third party to assess the initiative's performance.

Kayani reaffirmed the government's commitment to working with regulators, financial institutions, fintech companies, and the private sector to expand digital payments, strengthen financial inclusion, and support a transparent and documented economy.

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