Pakistan digital banking has crossed a turning point in 2026. Digital channels now process 92% of all retail payments, the government has moved its payroll onto Raast, and ABHI Microfinance Bank is quietly rebuilding itself as a technology-first lender. Together, these shifts show that financial inclusion in Pakistan is being built from the ground up, brick by brick, through infrastructure.
ABHI Microfinance Bank’s Digital Push in 2026
ABHI Microfinance Bank entered 2026 with a clear plan: fix its balance sheet and build a more digital bank at the same time. The results so far are striking. For the period ended 31 March 2026, ABHI Microfinance Bank reported revenue of PKR 4.874 billion, compared to PKR 2.600 billion in the same period last year. That is nearly double in one year.
Paid-up capital net of losses improved to a positive Rs2.262 billion as of March 31, 2026, compared to a negative Rs397 million at the end of December 2025, showing a real turnaround in its financial health.
The bank is not just chasing profit. Alongside its financial progress, ABHI Microfinance Bank continued to advance its digital transformation strategy, focusing on integrating its nationwide microfinance network with enhanced digital capabilities to improve accessibility, convenience, and financial inclusion. The goal is a faster and more seamless banking experience for individuals, small businesses, merchants, and underserved communities.
As of March 31, 2026, the bank operated a network of 114 branches across Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan, Sindh, Gilgit-Baltistan, and Azad Jammu and Kashmir. But physical branches are only one part of the plan.
Partnerships Powering the Digital Banking Model
ABHI has been moving fast to build a digital ecosystem around its banking licence. In June 2026, it signed a major deal with a state identity body. ABHI Microfinance Bank and NADRA Technologies Limited entered into a strategic partnership to advance digital financial services and strengthen access to secure, technology-enabled solutions for individuals and businesses across Pakistan. NADRA (the National Database and Registration Authority) holds Pakistan’s national identity data, so this tie-up could help the bank open accounts and check identities digitally at much lower cost.
Earlier in 2026, ABHI teamed up with Daira, a digital lending company. The two announced a partnership to integrate banking infrastructure with Daira’s lending technology, delivering digital credit and Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) solutions to underserved households in Pakistan, marking the first bank-fintech partnership of its kind in the country.
The bank also joined forces with DigiKhata, a digital ledger app used by small shops and traders. The partnership is designed to connect digitally active SMEs with formal financial services, combining DigiKhata’s digital business ecosystem with ABHI’s regulated banking infrastructure to help small businesses unlock working capital.
Perhaps the most ambitious move was a plan to build a Super Agent Network. The network activates widespread real-time cash-in and cash-out services, digital transaction routing, and secure biometric account opening for underserved retail ecosystems, with ABHI Microfinance Bank leveraging a partner’s digital footprint to deploy a next-generation Super Agent Network and retailer lending solutions.
92% of Pakistan’s Retail Payments Are Now Digital
ABHI’s push is happening inside a much bigger national shift. Pakistan digital payments continued to grow strongly during the first quarter of 2026, with 3.7 billion retail transactions worth PKR 168.8 trillion processed through formal banking and payment channels between January and March 2026.
Digital channels accounted for 92% of those 3.7 billion retail transactions, driven by the growing use of mobile banking apps, digital wallets, internet banking, and the Raast instant payment platform. To put this in perspective, digital payments had covered 88% of all retail transactions in FY2024-25, up from 78% in FY23 and 85% in FY24. The speed of change is real.
Mobile applications remained the backbone of Pakistan’s digital payments ecosystem, with banking apps from commercial banks, branchless banking providers, and Electronic Money Institutions facilitating 2.9 billion transactions worth Rs42 trillion during the first quarter of 2026.
How Raast Is Changing Government Payments
One of the biggest drivers of Pakistan digital banking is Raast, the State Bank’s instant payment system. Introduced on January 11, 2021, Raast is Pakistan’s first national instant payment system, operated by the State Bank of Pakistan, facilitating real-time, end-to-end digital payments among individuals, businesses, and government entities.
The State Bank of Pakistan announced plans to route all government payments through Raast by the end of fiscal year 2025-26, marking a major push to digitize financial transactions. This is not just talk. Government payroll processing moved to Raast, with the Accountant General Pakistan Revenues processing 850,000 transactions worth Rs100 billion through the system.
The Benazir Income Support Programme, the Pakistan Military Accounts Department, and the Central Directorate of National Savings each set deadlines between March and June 2026 for achieving full digitization of their disbursement flows through the instant payment platform.
Raast alone processed 742.1 million transactions worth PKR 23.3 trillion in the first quarter of 2026, with person-to-person transfers reaching 664 million transactions, up 10% from the previous quarter.
Pakistan’s mobile internet gender gap has also been closing fast, which means more women are now able to access these digital payment and banking tools, widening the base for financial inclusion even further.
Why Infrastructure Matters More Than Policy
The honest lesson from Pakistan’s banking story in 2026 is simple. Policy alone did not move the needle. Infrastructure did. The critical insight is that documentation happened incidentally. The State Bank built payment infrastructure to improve financial inclusion and payment efficiency. Merchants adopted QR codes because they cut costs. Employers moved to Raast because it worked. People opened digital accounts because the process became easy.
ABHI’s leadership is actively driving the strategic transformation of the bank into a next-generation digital bank designed to serve the evolving needs of Pakistan’s underserved and emerging consumer segments, currently undergoing large digital interventions across its operating model, customer experience, product architecture, and technology stack.
For ordinary Pakistanis, especially those outside big cities, this shift matters. Banks are reaching them through mobile apps, agent networks, and partner platforms instead of expensive branches. That is the quiet transformation happening in 2026.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is ABHI Microfinance Bank doing differently in 2026?
ABHI Microfinance Bank entered 2026 with a gradual build-up of a more digitally enabled banking model, focusing on financial recovery, balance sheet strengthening, sustainable growth, and making Pakistan digital banking more accessible through technology. It has signed partnerships with NADRA Technologies, Daira, and DigiKhata to extend digital credit and services to underserved people.
What share of Pakistan’s retail payments are now digital?
The share of retail payments through digital channels has increased to 92% compared to 88% in the same quarter last year. Mobile banking apps, internet banking, ATMs, and Raast are the main channels driving this number.
What is Raast and how does it connect to financial inclusion?
Raast connects all financial institutions, allowing users to send and receive funds in seconds using simple aliases like mobile numbers, known as Raast IDs. Beyond enabling real-time payments, Raast has emerged as a key pillar of Pakistan’s digital public infrastructure, catalyzing digital inclusion and supporting bulk disbursements, person-to-person transfers, and government payments.
What does this mean for unbanked Pakistanis?
At 92% of retail payment volume, digital channels have moved from alternative to default in the Pakistani payments landscape, a transformation driven largely by Raast’s expanding reach and the regulatory push to reduce cash dependency across the economy. For unbanked citizens, agent networks, BNPL products, and biometric account opening are now making it far easier to join the formal financial system without visiting a branch.
