Pakistani freelancers will soon be able to open Wise accounts to receive payments directly from international clients, with the service expected to launch in Pakistan within four to six weeks, Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Faisal Jeddy said.
Well-informed sources in the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication (MoITT) and PSEB also confirmed the development to TechJuice.
The PSEB CEO said the Wise account will initially serve as a payment-receiving channel, allowing freelancers to share account details with clients abroad, through which international payments can be transferred and routed into Pakistan.
Jeddy added that this marks the first phase of the Wise rollout in the country, with discussions on the platform’s broader multi-currency functions to follow.
According to Jeddy, the global model of Wise allows account holders to send and receive payments across multiple countries, but current State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) regulations only partially support this structure.
He said PSEB held talks with Wise representatives in the Philippines and met with the State Bank, alongside the federal finance minister, to work out a framework enabling Pakistani freelancers to use Wise accounts for inbound payments.
Jeddy said PSEB is separately in discussions with PayPal over a potential entry into Pakistan, describing those talks as more difficult. He said PayPal has been reluctant to operate through a government agency, and that PSEB is exploring alternative ways to engage the company.
The Wise account initiative is part of the broader effort of PSEB to widen digital payment access for freelance and IT export community, which has long cited limited payment gateway options as a constraint on earnings.
