SBP revises IRF, MDR to improve payment card acceptance infrastructure

March 20, 2023 (MLN): In a bid to improve the payment card acceptance infrastructure in Pakistan, the Payment Systems Department (PSD) of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has revised the interchange reimbursement fee (IRF) and merchant discount rate (MDR) for cards issued in the country used on domestic point of sale (POS) terminals. 

According to the circular, the IRF for debit and prepaid cards used on domestic POS terminals shall not exceed 0.2%, while for credit cards it shall not exceed 0.7%. Additionally, the lower range of the MDR, which was previously set at 1.5%, has been abolished.

Furthermore, all e-commerce/online payment acquirers operating in Pakistan must enable the acceptance of domestic payment scheme (DPS) cards for card-not-present (CNP) transactions on their respective payment gateways by June 30, 2023.

This measure is expected to improve the payment card acceptance infrastructure in Pakistan and promote the wider use of card-based payments, which are becoming increasingly popular as more consumers switch to digital payment methods.

The PSD encouraged all stakeholders to comply with these instructions and contribute to the development of a robust payment card acceptance infrastructure in Pakistan.

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