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Digital channels drive 92% of retail volume as Raast, mobile banking surge in Q3 FY26
KARACHI:
Pakistan’s electronic payments landscape continued to expand during the third quarter of FY26, with retail payments through the banking system reaching 3.7 billion transactions during January-March 2026, up 9% from the previous quarter, according to the State Bank of Pakistan’s (SBP) latest Payment Systems Quarterly Review.
Compared with the previous quarter, retail payment volumes increased from 3.38 billion to 3.70 billion transactions, while their value rose from Rs167.2 trillion to Rs168.8 trillion. Digital channels drove this growth, with transaction volumes climbing from 3.11 billion to 3.41 billion and value increasing from Rs64.4 trillion to Rs68.3 trillion.
Digital payment channels accounted for 3.4 billion transactions, representing 92% of total retail payments by volume. These channels, including mobile banking apps, digital wallets, internet banking, USSD, ATMs, POS terminals, e-commerce platforms and call/IVR banking services, processed transactions worth Rs68.3 trillion, compared with Rs64.4 trillion in the previous quarter.
Mobile banking applications and e-money wallets remained the largest contributors. During the quarter, users carried out 2.89 billion transactions worth Rs41.67 trillion through banking apps and wallets offered by banks, branchless banking providers and electronic money institutions (EMIs). These transactions included fund transfers, bill payments, merchant payments and other financial services.
The number of digital banking users continued to grow. By March 2026, branchless banking mobile app users reached 95.8 million, banking mobile app users increased to 28.9 million, EMI wallet users rose to 7.3 million and internet banking users climbed to 16.2 million, reflecting growing consumer preference for app-based digital channels.
Raast maintained strong growthduring the quarter. Person-to-person transactions increased to 664 million, valued at Rs18.88 trillion, compared with 603 million transactions worth Rs15.69 trillion in the preceding quarter. Person-to-merchant services continued to expand, with more than 2.6 million merchants onboarded by the quarter’s end. Overall, Raast processed 742 million transactions amounting to Rs23.27 trillion.
Payment cards in circulation reached 68.25 million at quarter-end, with debit cards accounting for 57.2 million. During the period, payment cards were used for 272.2 million ATM transactions worth Rs4.99 trillion, 150.4 million POS transactions valued at Rs0.81 trillion, and 32.3 million e-commerce transactions amounting to Rs0.14 trillion.
QR code-based merchant payments grew 41% quarter-on-quarter to 87.3 million transactions, while their value surged 63% to Rs0.5 trillionindicating wider merchant acceptance of digital payment solutions.
E-commerce payments through bank accounts and digital wallets expanded, with consumers making 434.5 million online purchases worth Rs0.47 trillion.
Despite rapid digitalisation, physical banking channels remained important. By March, Pakistan had 20,232 bank branches and 819,397 branchless banking agents. During the quarter, bank branches processed 127.9 million transactions worth Rs99.5 trillion, while branchless banking agents facilitated 154.7 million transactions amounting to Rs1.1 trillion.
The country’s Real-Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) system, PRISM+, settled 1.5 million high-value transactions worth Rs389.8 trillion, with government securities accounting for the largest share.
At bank branches, cheque transfers remained the largest category by value at Rs70 trillion. Cash deposits totalled Rs13.7 trillion, withdrawals reached Rs10.5 trillion, and branches processed Rs3.7 trillion through pay orders and demand drafts, Rs0.7 trillion in bill payments, and Rs0.8 trillion through other payment instruments.
The report highlights consumers increasingly rely on mobile banking apps and digital wallets for fund transfers, bill payments, online purchases and in-store transactions. As of March 2026, mobile banking and digital wallet registrations exceeded 132 million, up 37% from 96 million a year earlier, while internet banking registrations reached 16.2 million. With 268 million bank accounts as of December 2025, nearly 49% are linked to a mobile banking app or digital wallet, highlighting the accelerating shift towards cashless banking.
The central bank said the sustained increase in digital payment adoption, expanding user base, growing merchant acceptance and strong performance of payment infrastructures such as Raast and PRISM+ highlight Pakistan’s continued progress towards a more inclusive, resilient and digitally enabled financial ecosystem.