SBP Says 92% of Pakistan Retail Payments Are Now Digital
Digital channels carried 92% of Pakistan's formal retail payments in FY26, says the SBP. See the 14.3 billion payments and how to move more of yours online.
Digital channels carried 92 per cent of Pakistan's formal retail payments in the year to June 2026, up from 88 per cent a year earlier. The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) said so on 6 October 2026, when it released its Annual Report on Payment Systems for FY26.
The headline count is 14.3 billion retail transactions through banks and wallets, worth Rs 673 trillion. The number of payments grew 58 per cent. The value grew only 10 per cent. That gap tells you what happened: people are paying more often, and in smaller amounts.
We read the SBP press release on its website on 8 October 2026. We did not read the full report, so every figure below comes from the release.
Pakistan made 14.3 billion retail payments in FY26
The SBP counts 14.3 billion retail transactions in FY26, worth Rs 673 trillion, through formal banking channels. Volume rose 58 per cent and value rose 10 per cent. Of the total, 13.2 billion payments went through digital channels.
Our own arithmetic on those two numbers gives an average of about Rs 47,000 per payment. That is only a rough guide, because a few very large transfers pull the average up. Most of what you and I send is far smaller.
The mix matters more than the average. A year ago, digital channels made up 88 per cent of payments. Now they are 92 per cent. Digital volume alone grew 65 per cent, faster than the total.
| Measure in FY26 | What the SBP reports |
|---|---|
| All retail payments | 14.3 billion, worth Rs 673 trillion |
| Growth in number of payments | 58 per cent |
| Growth in value | 10 per cent |
| Digital payments | 13.2 billion, up 65 per cent |
| Digital share of all payments | 92 per cent, from 88 per cent |
Mobile phones carried most of the digital growth
Mobile phone solutions handled more than 11.1 billion transactions in FY26, a rise of 79 per cent. Internet banking portals handled 0.3 billion, up 15 per cent. Phones, not websites, are now where most Pakistani payments start.
The pattern is easy to picture. A customer opens a banking app or a wallet and scans a code. The release does not describe how those payments were made, so this is our reading of the numbers.
The SBP also gives user counts. Branchless banking mobile app users reached 99.1 million. Bank mobile app users reached 30.4 million. Those two numbers are not added together in the release, and people can use both, so do not treat them as one population.
If you have not tried the instant transfer system, creating a Raast ID takes a few minutes in most apps. The release names Raast merchant onboarding as one driver of the gains in financial inclusion.
Shops and online stores are taking cards and transfers
The point of sale network grew to 337,791 terminals across 295,367 merchant locations. Daily card payments at those terminals rose to nearly 1.5 million, from 1.0 million a year earlier. Online, 96 per cent of e-commerce payments through banking channels were account based.
"Account based" means the money moved from a bank or wallet account. The release does not say how many of those were card payments and how many were transfers. It gives only the 96 per cent figure.
For a shopkeeper, the practical step is a QR code. Our guide on accepting Raast QR payments in your shop sets out how to register, without waiting for a card terminal.
PRISM+ moved the large payment system to a new standard
PRISM+ went live in August 2025 and moved the real time gross settlement system, the SBP's system for large payments between banks, to the ISO 20022 standard. The SBP says Pakistan now has wholesale and retail instant payment systems on that standard.
ISO 20022 is an international message format for payments. It carries more detail with each payment than older formats. The SBP says the upgrade is meant to improve efficiency, transparency and security.
You will not see PRISM+ on your phone. It sits behind the bank. But it is part of the same story as the new cheque clearing system, which clears cheques by image. We explain that change in how PECS changes cheque clearing.
Financial inclusion also moved up in the SBP's latest index
On 7 October 2026 the SBP released its Pakistan Financial Inclusion Index for 2025. It stands at 59.5, up from 58.1 in 2024. The SBP credits growth in usage, then access and quality, and names Raast, digital banks and account opening drives.
The release gives no index breakdown beyond that. We cannot tell you which province or group gained most. The SBP gives the index a single number and a direction.
One thing to keep in mind: this is a measure of formal finance. Cash payments outside banks and wallets are not in the 14.3 billion. So the 92 per cent is a share of formal payments, not of all spending in Pakistan.
What to do if you still pay mostly in cash
You do not need to switch everything at once. Pick one habit, make it work, then add another. Start with the payments you make every month, such as bills and school fees, because they are the easiest to move.
- Open your bank's mobile app and confirm you can log in and send a small transfer.
- Create a Raast ID linked to your mobile number so people can pay you without an account number.
- Pay one regular bill from the app this month and keep the confirmation message.
- Check your daily transfer limit in the app before a larger payment, so it does not fail at the last step.
- Learn the cash withdrawal rules for your card, because ATM limits differ by bank.
Be careful with fraud. A bank will never ask for your PIN or one time password. If money leaves your account by mistake, the steps in reporting fraud on your bank's mobile app apply.
Common questions
How many payments did Pakistan make through banks in FY26?
The SBP reports 14.3 billion retail transactions worth Rs 673 trillion through formal banking channels in FY26.
What share of payments is digital?
The SBP puts it at 92 per cent in FY26, up from 88 per cent in FY25. That is 13.2 billion payments.
How many people use mobile banking apps?
The SBP reports 99.1 million branchless banking mobile app users and 30.4 million bank mobile app users. Some people use both.
How many card terminals are there?
The SBP counts 337,791 point of sale terminals across 295,367 merchant locations, handling nearly 1.5 million card payments a day.
What is the Pakistan Financial Inclusion Index?
It is the SBP's single measure of access to and use of formal finance. The 2025 result is 59.5, from 58.1 in 2024.
How we verified this
What we checked, where we read it, and what we could not confirm.
Last checked 8 October 2026. We read the State Bank of Pakistan press release dated 6 October 2026 on the Annual Payment Systems Review of FY26, and the press release dated 7 October 2026 on the Pakistan Financial Inclusion Index results for 2025, both on sbp.org.pk. We did not read the full Annual Report on Payment Systems, which the SBP links from its release, so we cannot confirm figures beyond those in the press release. The average payment size is our own calculation from two figures in the release. Check sbp.org.pk for the full report.
About the author
Public Services and Education Journalist
Fajr Riaz is a journalist and content writer at Pakistan Era, based in Lahore. She covers the questions people meet in everyday life in Pakistan: how a public service works, what a change in the rules means, and where to find a reliable answer.
