Pakistan's Wallet Payments Doubled to Rs 29.2 Trillion in FY26: Wallets, Bank Apps and Web Banking Compared

Short answer: Branchless banking wallets such as JazzCash and Easypaisa handled 8,303 million payments worth Rs 29.2 trillion in 2025-26, almost double the year before. Bank mobile apps moved far more money, Rs 125 trillion in 2,573 million payments. SBP, Pakistan's central bank, published the figures on 6 October 2026.

Your uncle in Multan sends Rs 3,000 to a nephew through a wallet. A company in Karachi pays Rs 5 million to a supplier through a bank app. Both are "mobile payments", but they are not the same thing. The central bank's new annual review shows how different they are.

We read the State Bank of Pakistan's Annual Payment Systems Review for the 2025-26 financial year (FY26), including its tables, on 13 October 2026. FY26 means July 2025 to June 2026. SBP marks the FY26 figures as provisional. We worked out the average payment sizes ourselves by dividing value by volume.

Wallets and apps carry most payments by count

SBP counted 14,297.5 million retail payments in FY26, worth Rs 672,744 billion. Branchless banking wallets alone made up 8,303.4 million of them, which is 58 percent of all payments by count. They carried only 4 percent of the value.

Bank branches handled just 525.5 million payments, down from 567.4 million a year earlier. Yet branches still moved Rs 411,950 billion, which is about 61 percent of all value. Branch payments are few and very large.

For a longer view of how the digital share reached 92 percent, see the report on digital payments at 92 percent of retail transactions. This page adds the channel by channel numbers.

Branchless wallets nearly doubled in a year

Branchless banking is the service run by wallet providers under a bank licence. Its wallet payments rose from 4,240.0 million to 8,303.4 million, up 96 percent. The value rose from Rs 14,167 billion to Rs 29,204 billion, up 106 percent.

E-money wallets, run by licensed e-money institutions, are much smaller. They handled 252.4 million payments worth Rs 741.9 billion, up 53 percent by count and 57 percent by value.

Bank mobile apps grew by 43 percent in count and 53 percent in value. Internet banking on the web grew by 15 percent in count and 55 percent in value.

A wallet payment is small, a bank app payment is large

Dividing value by count gives the average payment. Our working, from SBP's FY26 table, is below. These are averages, so many individual payments are far smaller or larger.

• Branchless wallet: about Rs 3,500 a payment.
• E-money wallet: about Rs 2,900 a payment.
• Bank mobile app: about Rs 48,600 a payment.
• Internet banking: about Rs 178,000 a payment.

This explains why wallets lead by count and apps lead by value. Wallets serve daily needs: bills, mobile top ups and small transfers. Apps serve salaries, rent, school fees and business payments.

Users grew by a quarter or more

SBP counts 99.1 million users of branchless banking mobile apps, up from 79.2 million. Bank mobile app users rose from 24.1 million to 30.4 million, and internet banking users from 14.9 million to 17.5 million. E-money wallet users grew 37 percent, from 5.8 million to 7.9 million.

These are users counted by providers, so one person can appear more than once if they hold several apps. Treat 99.1 million as a count of app users, not of people.

To see what these wallets charge, read the page on JazzCash and Easypaisa charges. For the card side of the same review, see the count of ATMs and cash deposit machines.

Five checks before a large wallet payment

With so many payments on phones, the sensible habits matter. The list below is plain good practice, not an SBP rule.

1. Check the limit on your wallet or account before you send a large amount.
2. Read the payee name that the app shows before you confirm.
3. Keep the transaction ID and a screenshot until the money arrives.
4. Never share your PIN or one time code with anyone, even a caller who claims to be from the bank.
5. If money is taken without your consent, report it to the provider at once. The steps are in the guide to claiming a digital fraud refund from a bank or wallet.

Common questions

How many payments did wallets handle in FY26?

Branchless banking wallets handled 8,303.4 million payments worth Rs 29.2 trillion, according to SBP's review. E-money wallets handled another 252.4 million.

Which channel moves the most money?

Bank branches still move the most value, about Rs 412 trillion. Among mobile channels, bank apps lead with Rs 125.1 trillion.

Which channel has the most payments?

Branchless banking wallets, with 58 percent of all retail payments by count. Bank branches handled fewer than 4 percent.

How many people use wallet apps in Pakistan?

SBP counts 99.1 million branchless banking app users and 7.9 million e-money wallet users. Some people use more than one app, so these are not unique people.

Are these figures final?

No. SBP marks FY26 as provisional, and it may revise them in a later review.

Is a wallet payment safe?

Wallet providers are licensed and supervised by SBP, but fraud happens. Use a strong PIN, never share codes, and report problems at once.

How we verified this

What we checked, where we read it, and what we could not confirm.

Last checked on 13 October 2026, Pakistan time. We read SBP's Annual Payment Systems Review FY26, including Table A-4 for channel payments and the sections on users, and SBP's press release of 6 October 2026. The average payment sizes are our own division of SBP's value by volume. SBP marks FY26 figures as provisional. We did not verify the user counts against any provider's own statement.