Daily Times

For countries concerned about the environmental impact of their currency, a switch to Plastic Money makes sense. As countries sign on to the Paris Agreement on climate change and strive to become more sustainable, many are considering the environmental impact of their currency as well as its durability and security.

On the other hand, people in Pakistan use a phrase “we are ten years behind west” I will second this in terms of Technology and Innovations.Back in 2005I developed an ecommerce portal project for my FYP, my analysis was plastic money will take over in few years as it’s necessary for all digital transaction. But it took us 10-15 years to adopt plastic money. Today it is impossible to imagine modern bank operations, commercial transactions and otherpayments without using the plastic money.The growing incursion of smart phones hasmade technology applications much more accessible to users. The Government’s also moveforward for a “Digital Pakistan” and its focus on growing electronic payments is significantdrivers of growth in replacing physical payments with technology backed solutions. Pakistan isat the cusp of a tectonic shift towards digital/plastic money from traditional cash.

Plastic money is a term used to represent the hard plastic cards used in day to day life in place of actual banknotes. They come in several forms such as debit cards, credit cards, store cards and pre-paid cash cards. The plastic cards began to be used widely after 1970 when the specific standards were set for a magnetic strip.Pakistan represents an ideal environment for digital banking to thrive. It has a high unbanked population (74% of adults do not have an account at a formal financial institution), strong mobile penetration (70% of the population have a mobile subscription) along with a high cash dependence which is one of the highest in emerging markets. Now a days a modern customers and client cannot think of banking without the facility ofplastic cards. Today credit and debit cards have largely replaced cheques as alternatives tocash. Both are reasonably secured compared to cash and are widely accepted.User friendliness and feasibility are the main features of plastic money that have made plasticmoney popular not only in Pakistan but also all over the world.Use of smart phones became one of the most common forms of banking. As to provideconsumers with a convenient and secure banking facility, almost every leading bank in thecountry, private or public, launched their mobile applications for all the leading Smartphoneoperating system platforms ie Android, iOS and Windows.

The prevalence of intensifying competition has further fuelled the usage of plastic cards in the country like never-before. Due to major social and technological advancements, the banking landscape is undergoing massive change

The people of Pakistan are moving towards smart ways for payment solutions to avoid carrying cash everywhere they go. The numbers have crossed 50 million users. Private banks have played a great role by providing them with easy payment services to store in the banks. Banks have been giving free debit cards to every customer when they open their account. If a card owner wants to increase the limit of withdrawal with each transaction,that would cost an annual fee. There are multiple benefits customers get while using the cards for shopping in the malls and eating foods in restaurants, different discounts and offers they get from big brands. According to the report almost 49.3 million transactions worth of Rs. 560 billion in 2019.

The stats released by State Bank of Pakistan says that credit card users stand at around 2.1 million, ATM cards are 9.07 million, however, the debit cards are most as the stands at 29.1 million which is more than 50% of total card users. The rest are using social welfare cards such as Benazir Income Support Programme cards. These users are estimated to be 7.7 million respectively.

Pakistan has been struggling in Tax Collections for decades as most of the transactions are not documented and are done on cash without receipts. By making plastic money mandatory we can easily trace the financial transactions done through cards. Developing a culture of plastic money will make it easy for the government to trace black suspected black money sources.

Ecommerce is going through a boom globally due to Covid-19 but in Pakistan due to lack of digital payment platforms, this sector is performing poorly as compared to our neighbor’s specially china and India. Plastic money will support the growth of e-commerce, whichcan boost economic activities in Pakistan and create lots of new job and entrepreneurship opportunities for Pakistani youth.One can purchase anything from any place through a credit card or debit card without spending money on fare or cash transaction. You have to provide your card details to seller store or corporations and settle your order. It saves time in the transaction by debit and credit card.It is the safest way of shopping, in case if an individual loses the cards, then he/she may contact the bank or financial institution, which provide the cards. The financial institution or bank will block the account and no-one can draw a single penny without your permission.

In my opinion, to curb corruption and to ameliorate tax collections government should discourage use of cash transaction and abolish big notes of 1000 and 5000 rupees and make the use of plastic money obligatory.

Smooth, simple and secure payment processes will help bring about behavioral changes and faster adoption of digital payments and banking among un-banked segments, a larger pie with more players is definitely good for the changing dynamics of the payments industry, which is still nascent in Pakistan. Consumption in Pakistan is still dominated by cash, with cards contributing only 7 per cent of the personal consumption expenditure. In developed countries, 30-50 per cent of spends happen through cards. So there is huge growth opportunity.The future holds exciting times for the payments industry in Pakistan, as all stakeholders and regulatory authorities come together to achieve a “less-cash dependent” and eventually “cashless” society.

The modern day, Pakistan customers find it easier to make physical payment (credit card or debit card payments) rather than carrying too much cash contributing to the growth of plastic money in the country. The prevalence of intensifying competition has further fuelled the usage of plastic cards in the country like never-before. Due to major social and technologicaladvancements, the banking landscape is undergoing massive change. The market is seeing increased availability of sophisticated technologies that can enable cashless transactions however the perceived disadvantages such as the need for high IT investment by various service providers, security concerns, lack of technological awareness and the traditional mindset of Pakistan’s who prefer to use physical money seem to outweigh the potential benefits.

Banking online and plastic money both are safe these days, yes there are a few unforeseen event in line with online transactions like hacking of bank accounts, fraudulent transactions, miss placing of debit cards and many more, however this has been taken care of by the regulators to make sure that such events minimize and cause no harm to the consumer so that you continue to use technology for your banking and other financial transactions.

The writer is web editor of Daily Times