ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s digital payments ecosystem continues to expand at a rapid pace, with over 123 million registered users across mobile, internet, branchless, and other wallets as of FY25, representing more than half of the country’s deposit-taking accounts.
Mobile banking emerged as a key driver, processing Rs83.2 trillion in transactions during FY25—an 80 percent increase from the previous year—and handling 1.8 billion transactions, outpacing ATMs, internet banking, and point-of-sale channels combined. Branchless wallets also recorded significant activity, completing 4.2 billion transactions worth Rs14.2 trillion.
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Digital retail transactions through scheduled banks rose to 21.7 percent in FY25, up 8.21 percentage points from the prior year, marking a record increase. Internet banking throughput jumped 62 percent to Rs38.1 trillion, while point-of-sale transactions crossed Rs2 trillion for the first time, reaching Rs2.1 trillion. The growth of payment infrastructure also continued, with 59.3 million payment cards and nearly 196,000 POS terminals deployed across more than 159,000 merchants.
However, e-commerce remains a challenge, with card-based online transactions reaching 51.8 million worth Rs249.7 billion, while branchless wallets processed 683.9 million online merchant transactions valued at Rs662.7 billion. Analysts note that while absolute figures show impressive growth, the pace of digitisation must be contextualised against the overall financial ecosystem and compared to peer markets.
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Experts argue that further growth will require sustained efforts, particularly in business-to-business payments, where infrastructure and regulatory support are crucial. The current momentum provides an opportunity to consolidate Pakistan’s position as a leading emerging digital economy, even as customer satisfaction with user experience remains a concern.