Mettis Global News
Mettis Global News
Mettis Global News
Mettis Global News

Trending :

Usage of debit cards dwarfs credit cards in size and value: SBP Report

Share on facebook
Share on twitter
Share on linkedin
Share on whatsapp

Pakistan is witnessing a growing trend in the usage of payment cards, comprising Credit, Debit, Social Welfare and Prepaid Cards, as the country records transactions worth Rs. 6 trillion through these mediums in the twelve months of the fiscal year 2018.

According to a report by the State Bank of Pakistan, the value of transactions made using these payment cards has gone up by about 23.4% over the year, while the number of transactions processed through these cards has similarly increased by about 21.1%, with a total of 548.3 million transactions conducted in this time frame.

In its report titled “Payment Systems Review for the FY 2017-18,” the State Bank has informed that as of June 2018, a total of 40.9 million payment cards are in circulation within the economy, 1.4 million of which are credit cards.

While no specific information has been provided on the number of users of these cards, the number of transactions processed through these cards has increased by 37.3% with total transactions, as on June 2018, having been reported at 34.4 million, at a value of Rs. 201.5 billion during the fiscal year 2018.

The value of transactions conducted using these credit cards is, however, dwarfed when compared to the usage of debit cards. Compared to the 1.4 million credit cards being used at the moment, a total of 21.7 million Debit Cards remain in circulation in the country as of June 2018.

Having grown at a pace of 21.8% and 23.4% in the volume and value of transactions respectively, during the year under review, debit cards processed a total of 441.1 million transactions worth Rs. 5.1 trillion, far greater than the size and value of transactions conducted using credit cards.

However, the bulk of this usage has been on transactions concerning ATM withdrawals whereas the share of transactions with respect to Point of Sale usage has been merely 8.6% in volume and 2.9% in the value of transactions.

Credit cards, on the other hand, has been the predominant medium for Point of Sale usage, with the 87.2% of the total volume of credit card transactions being made on Point of Sale payments and 10.2% in e-Commerce transactions.

Proprietary ATMs only Cards, issued by a total of 18 banks for cash withdrawals on ATM, processed 61.8 million transactions at a value of Rs 642.2 billion, via the 8.5 million such cards in circulation.

Similarly, Social Welfare cards, issued by the Government of Pakistan to support needy and disasters affected people, saw transactions worth merely Rs. 37 billion via the 8.9 million cards in circulation.

Posted on: 2018-08-09T18:10:00+05:00

22568