Pakistan's retail payments through formal banking channels increased 58% to 14.3 billion transactions in the financial year ended June 2026, the State Bank of Pakistan said. Their value rose 10% to Rs673 trillion. Digital channels processed 13.2 billion transactions, growing 65% and accounting for more than 92% of volume. The figures were published in the central bank's Annual Payment Systems Review for FY26.
Formal retail payments cover routine, mainly lower-value transactions by individuals, merchants and businesses, rather than large-value transfers settled through systems such as PRISM+. Digital channels represented 88% of volume a year earlier. Mobile phone channels supplied by banks, branchless banking operators and electronic money institutions handled more than 11.1 billion transactions, 79% above FY25. Internet banking recorded more than 300 million transactions worth Rs61 trillion.
MOBILE CHANNELS DROVE THE SHIFT
The point-of-sale network expanded to 337,791 terminals across 295,367 merchant locations. It supported nearly 1.5 million card payments a day, compared with 1 million in FY25. The number of QR-enabled merchants more than tripled to 3.8 million from 1.1 million, supported by incentives under the government's cashless-payments initiative.
Branchless banking mobile-app users increased to 99.1 million, while banks' mobile-app users reached 30.4 million. Pakistan had 23,356 e-commerce merchants at the end of the year, and account- and wallet-based payments represented almost 96% of e-commerce transactions processed through banks. The breadth of adoption shows that the increase extended beyond a single payment channel.
VALUE REMAINS LESS DIGITISED
Digital payments by value rose to Rs257 trillion from Rs179 trillion, increasing their share of formal retail payment value to 38% from 29%. That remained well below the digital share of transaction volume. The gap indicates that cash and other conventional channels retained a larger role in higher-value activity.
The State Bank said further progress would require businesses, government bodies and financial institutions to digitise more higher-value payments. Wider merchant acceptance and mobile use provide a base for that shift, but the difference between volume and value remains the central constraint. The next annual review will show whether digital channels move beyond their 38% share of payment value while retaining their dominant share of transaction numbers.