Digital payments across Pakistan surged by 300 percent over the past year, with mobile banking users rising to 137 million and cash payments under the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) falling to just one percent, according to a briefing presented to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday.
Chairing a meeting on the promotion of a cashless economy and digital payments, the prime minister reviewed progress made over the past year in shifting the national economy toward a digital-payment-based cashless system. He praised the performance of the economic team, stating that transitioning the economy to a cashless system would drive sustainable economic growth and enhance transparency.
Officials briefed the meeting that the number of merchants accepting digital payments through QR codes rose by 300 percent between June 2025 and June 2026, reaching 2,003,000. The prime minister commended the economic team for this increase and directed that awareness campaigns be made more effective to attract more merchants toward QR-code-based digital payments.
The briefing showed that 99 percent of payments made by the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) have been digitized, with cash payments falling from 71 percent to just one percent. All payments to the 10 million beneficiaries of the Benazir Income Support Programme are now being made through digital wallets, which the prime minister described as transparent, fast, and convenient for recipients.
The number of mobile banking app users rose from 95 million to 137 million over the past year, a development the prime minister called a major achievement. He stated that banks and financial institutions must play a larger role in promoting the cashless economy, and directed that remittances sent from abroad be made 100 percent digital.
According to the briefing, 11.9 billion digital transactions were recorded between July 2025 and June 2026, while 92 percent of remittances received from overseas during the past year were transferred digitally.
A third-party validation process on the cashless economy is currently underway, with a final report and recommendations to be presented in November 2026. The Pakistan Banking Association has also assigned targets to member banks for promoting digital payments, including through the RAAST system.
