Pakistan is set to launch its first locally developed credit card under the domestic payment scheme PayPak later this year, 1LINK CEO Najeeb Agrawalla has announced.
Speaking in an interview with The News, Agrawalla said 1LINK is working with member banks and the banking regulator to bring the PayPak credit card to market. The card will be accepted nationwide, offering consumers a locally managed alternative to international payment networks.
A key feature of the initiative is its pay-as-you-earn model, which significantly lowers the cost of entry for banks that have historically been unable to offer credit cards due to high operational expenditure.
Smaller and mid-tier banks will be able to participate without heavy upfront infrastructure investment, and will have access to end-to-end card management services. Agrawalla said the model is expected to democratise credit card issuance across Pakistan’s banking sector.
PayPak was launched in 2016, making Pakistan the 28th country in the world to operate a domestic payment scheme. The PayPak debit card is currently used across government-to-person disbursements, person-to-merchant transactions, e-commerce platforms, and retail outlets.
The scheme now holds a 28 percent market share with over 16.1 million cards in circulation.
Since its launch, PayPak has expanded from a single card product into a range of variants catering to different consumer needs, including co-badged cards that function both domestically and internationally.
The addition of a credit card product is expected to further strengthen the market presence of PayPak and support the shift of the country toward a cashless economy.
Industry experts say a domestic credit card scheme could increase competition in the payments market, reduce transaction costs for banks and merchants, and support the government’s agenda of expanding digital financial services.
