Pakistan's digital payments hit 3bn transactions in Q2 FY26

March 20, 2026 (MLN): Pakistan's payment ecosystem recorded 3.4bn retail transactions worth Rs167 trillion during the second quarter of Fiscal Year 2025–26 (October to December 2025), according to the latest Payment Systems Quarterly Review published by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).

The figures represent an 8% quarter-on-quarter increase in transaction volume and a 7% rise in value, emphasizing the country's accelerating shift toward digital financial services.

Of the 3.4bn retail transactions recorded in Q2 FY26, 3.1bn or 92% were conducted through digital payment channels. This marks a significant improvement from 88% recorded in the same quarter last year (Q2 FY25).

Digital channels include mobile banking apps, internet banking portals, ATMs, point-of-sale (POS) terminals, e-commerce platforms, and call/IVR banking services.

The total value of digital payments reached Rs64tr during the quarter, up 14% from Rs56tr in the previous quarter.

Mobile banking apps and digital wallets continued to dominate the payments landscape. A total of 2.6bn transactions worth Rs40tr were processed through mobile apps offered by banks, branchless banking (BB) providers, and Electronic Money Institutions (EMIs) representing 83% of all digital payments.

Since 2024, the number of mobile banking app users has grown by approximately 40%, reaching 126m as of December 2025.

Internet banking also showed strong momentum, with transaction volume increasing 11% and value rising 22% quarter-on-quarter.

The number of active internet banking users stood at 15.7m by the end of December 2025.

SBP's Raast Instant Payment System recorded 645.7m transactions totalling Rs18.5tr during the quarter a major milestone for Pakistan's real time payments infrastructure.

Person-to-Person (P2P) transfers rose 13% to 603m transactions valued at Rs15.7tr, averaging 7m  transactions per day compared to 3m in the same quarter last year.

Raast's Person-to-Merchant (P2M) segment saw explosive growth, with transactions jumping to 33.6m worth Rs167.6bn.

Additionally, the Raast Bulk Payments service processed 9.2m transactions worth Rs2.6tr, showing rapid adoption by businesses and government entities.

Over 2.1m merchants have been onboarded on Raast P2M as of quarter end.

QR-based merchant payments recorded a twofold increase in transaction volume and a nearly threefold increase in value compared to the previous quarter.

Quarterly transactions reached 60m with a total value of Rs288bn. The number of QR-enabled merchant locations expanded to 1.94m, up from 1.41m at the end of September 2025.

Pakistan's payment card base grew to 66.7m by December 2025, up from 61.6m in the previous quarter. Debit cards account for 87% of total cards (58.2m), while credit cards number 3.1m.

Card-based transactions collectively processed 458m payments, including 147.2m POS purchases, 31.6m e-commerce transactions, and 279.4m ATM withdrawals.

The country's ATM network expanded to 20,976 machines, each processing an average of 144 transactions per day.

A total of 305m e-commerce purchases worth Rs422bn were recorded during the quarter.

Notably, 95% of these transactions were completed directly through bank or wallet accounts, with only 5% made via payment cards highlighting the growing preference for account-based e-commerce over card-based transactions, partly driven by the avoidance of interchange fees.

The Pakistan Real-time Interbank Settlement Mechanism (PRISM+), the country's Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) system, processed 1.7m transactions worth Rs369.6tr during Q2 FY26 a 5.2% increase in value quarter-on-quarter.

Government securities settlements accounted for the largest share at 69% of total settled value (Rs255tr), followed by fund transfers and ancillary clearing.

Pakistan's financial infrastructure continued to expand during the quarter. Bank branches increased to 20,143 while branchless banking agents grew to 763,262 extending the reach of formal financial services into underserved regions.

As of December 2025, 77% of Pakistan's adult population hold bank or wallet accounts, with 52% of those accounts registered to mobile apps.

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