Pakistan’s digital payments hit 3.7bn transactions in Q3FY26

June 29, 2026 (MLN): Pakistan's digital payments ecosystem continued its rapid expansion during the third quarter of FY26, with retail transactions conducted through formal banking and payment channels reaching 3.7 billion.

This marked a 9% quarter-on-quarter increase, according to the State Bank of Pakistan's (SBP) latest Payment Systems Quarterly Review.

The value of retail payments climbed to Rs168.8 trillion during January-March 2026, up 1% from the previous quarter, reflecting the country's growing reliance on digital financial services and cash-lite payment methods.

Digital payment channels, including mobile banking apps, internet banking, digital wallets, ATMs, POS terminals and e-commerce platforms—processed 3.4 billion transactions worth Rs68.3 trillion during the quarter, accounting for 92% of total retail payment volume.

Mobile banking apps and e-money wallets remained the primary drivers of digital transactions, facilitating 2.89 billion transactions amounting to Rs41.67 trillion. Fund transfers dominated app-based payments, with 1.51 billion transactions worth Rs51.2 trillion executed during the quarter.

The adoption of instant payment system Raast also maintained strong momentum. Total Raast transactions surged to 742 million, carrying a value of Rs23.27 trillion during Q3FY26, compared to 648 million transactions worth Rs18.48 trillion in the preceding quarter.

Raast's person-to-person (P2P) transfers increased to 664 million transactions valued at Rs18.88 trillion, while its merchant payment (P2M) service continued to gain traction, with more than 2.6 million merchants onboarded by the end of March 2026.

The report highlighted the growing acceptance of QR-based payments across the country. QR-enabled merchant transactions jumped 41% quarter-on-quarter to 87.3 million, while their value soared 63% to Rs0.5 trillion.

Pakistan's digital banking user base also continued to expand. Branchless banking mobile app users rose to 95.8 million, banking mobile app users reached 28.9 million, EMI wallet users climbed to 7.3 million, and internet banking registrations increased to 16.2 million.

Meanwhile, the total number of payment cards in circulation reached 68.25 million by the end of March, with debit cards accounting for 84% of the total at 57.2 million cards.

Despite increasing digitisation, traditional banking channels retained their significance. Bank branches processed 127.9 million transactions worth Rs99.5 trillion during the quarter, while branchless banking agents facilitated 154.7 million transactions amounting to Rs1.1 trillion.

At the wholesale level, Pakistan's Real-time Interbank Settlement Mechanism (PRISM+) settled 1.5 million transactions worth Rs389.8 trillion during the quarter, with government securities accounting for 71% of the total transaction value.

The central bank said the continued growth in digital payments, expanding merchant acceptance infrastructure and increasing consumer adoption of app-based services underscore Pakistan's transition towards a more inclusive and digitally enabled financial ecosystem.

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