The Cashless Pakistan initiative has reached its first birthday with numbers that surprised even its planners. In just twelve months, active merchants accepting digital payments jumped from 500,000 to more than 2 million, annual digital transactions rose 64% to 11.3 billion, and digital banking users crossed the 135 million mark. Here is what happened, how it happened, and what comes next.
What the One-Year Review Found
Minister of State for Railways and Finance Bilal Azhar Kayani chaired a high-level review meeting at the Finance Division to assess the one-year progress of the government’s Cashless Pakistan initiative. The meeting drew a wide room: senior representatives from the State Bank of Pakistan, FBR, NADRA, the Controller General of Accounts, Ministry of IT, Raast Payments Pakistan, major commercial banks, digital banks, telecom operators, and development finance organisations all attended.
Annual digital transactions rose from 6.9 billion to 11.3 billion, a 64 percent increase in one year. That is not a small rounding error. It reflects tens of millions of people choosing to tap, scan, or click instead of reaching for cash. At the same time, digital banking users expanded to more than 135 million.
How the Cashless Pakistan Initiative Actually Works
Launched in June 2025 under the direct supervision of the Prime Minister, the initiative is built on three core pillars: enhancing public convenience, promoting transparency, and accelerating the formal documentation of the economy through digital payments.
Three sub-committees operate under the main Cashless Pakistan Committee: Digital Payments and Innovation led by the Governor of the State Bank, Digital Public Infrastructure led by the Minister of IT, and Digitizing Government Payments led by the Finance Secretary. Each sub-committee owns a lane. That separation of responsibility is one reason the initiative moved on multiple fronts at the same time rather than getting stuck in one ministry.
Why Merchants Quadrupled So Fast
The Raast QR Code initiative helped increase the number of active digital payment merchants from around 0.5 million to more than 2 million. The QR approach is the key unlock here. A merchant does not need a POS terminal, a card reader, or any dedicated equipment to accept Raast QR payments. A printed QR code or a smartphone screen is sufficient.
For Pakistan’s millions of small traders, shopkeepers, and market vendors, whose margins are too thin to absorb traditional payment infrastructure costs, this frictionless entry point has been the unlock. A fruit seller in a Lahore bazaar or a tailor in a Karachi neighbourhood can now display a Raast QR code and accept payments instantly with no monthly terminal fees. That low barrier is what drove four times the merchant count in a single year.
Over 2.1 million merchants are now onboarded to Raast. QR code-based payments reached Rs288 billion in one recent quarter, registering a threefold increase. That volume growth tells you merchants are not just registered, they are actively using the system.
If you already use JazzCash or Easypaisa to settle your utility bills, this ecosystem connects directly. You can learn about paying PTCL bills online via JazzCash or Easypaisa as part of the same digital payments infrastructure that the Cashless Pakistan initiative is now building on.
Government Payments Are Going Digital Too
The most under-reported angle in this story is not the merchant count but what is happening on the government side. Approximately 75% of government-to-people payments at both centralized and self-accounting entities are now being accepted digitally. That includes salaries, pensions, and welfare disbursements moving through digital rails instead of cash queues.
25 high-impact federal and provincial entities have been identified for complete digitization through Raast by December 2026. Government payment volumes, including salaries, pensions, subsidies, tax refunds, and procurement payments, represent some of the largest individual transaction flows in Pakistan’s economy. Routing these through Raast creates a documented, auditable record of public finance flows that cash and cheque-based systems cannot provide.
Earlier, the Benazir Income Support Programme, the Pakistan Military Accounts Department, and the Central Directorate of National Savings had each set deadlines for full digitization of their disbursement flows through the Raast platform. The December 2026 target for 25 entities builds on that foundation.
Financial Inclusion Is Rising but Work Remains
Financial inclusion increased to 69 percent, while the gender gap continued to narrow through targeted interventions. That is meaningful progress for a country where millions of adults had no access to formal banking just a few years ago. Raast has given millions of Pakistanis access to formal banking for the first time. Rural populations can now send and receive money instantly using just a phone.
Still, the gap between 69% inclusion and full coverage is wide. A large portion of Pakistan’s adult population, particularly in rural areas and among women, still operates entirely in cash. Only about 26% of adults are financially literate, which means digital payment tools need to be simple enough for people who have never used a bank account before. The government’s own target, as reported by analysts, is to push internet penetration from 60% to 80% to support wider digital payment adoption.
Transparency Check: A Third Party Is Watching
One detail that most coverage missed: the government is not just self-reporting. The government has hired an independent third party to assess the initiative’s performance and verify its reported achievements. Kayani emphasized validating the progress, streamlining reporting gaps, and eliminating data duplication. That kind of external audit signals that policymakers want these numbers to hold up to scrutiny, not just look good in a press release.
What This Means for Everyday Pakistanis
If you run a small business, the practical takeaway is simple. More of your customers now expect to pay by scanning a QR code. Setting up a Raast merchant account through your bank or a digital wallet costs nothing. The transaction arrives instantly, and there is no waiting for a card machine settlement. Holding out for cash-only operations is increasingly a decision that costs you sales.
If you are a consumer, the initiative means more places near you accept digital payment than did a year ago. Fees on Raast transfers between individuals remain zero at most banks, so the cost argument for cash is shrinking fast.
Total inflows through Roshan Digital Accounts crossed $11 billion, while active accounts exceeded 890,000, showing that overseas Pakistanis are also part of this digital shift, sending remittances through formal digital channels at growing scale.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Cashless Pakistan initiative?
It is a government programme launched in June 2025 under the Prime Minister’s supervision. Its goal is to shift Pakistan’s economy from cash to digital payments by growing merchant acceptance, expanding digital banking, and moving government payments onto real-time platforms like Raast, the State Bank of Pakistan’s instant payment system.
How did merchant numbers grow so quickly?
The Raast QR Code approach removed the main barrier for small merchants. No POS terminal is needed. A free printed QR code lets any shopkeeper accept payments instantly. Banks and digital wallets also ran active onboarding campaigns, supported by government policy. The result was a jump from 500,000 to over 2 million active digital payment merchants in twelve months.
What are the 25 entities joining Raast by December 2026?
They are high-impact federal and provincial government bodies identified by the Finance Division. Full integration means their payments, such as salaries, pensions, and subsidies, will flow through Raast digitally. The December 2026 deadline is set to create an auditable, documented record of how public money moves. Specific entity names have not been fully published yet, but earlier Raast integration work already covered bodies like the Benazir Income Support Programme and the Pakistan Military Accounts Department.
Is Pakistan’s digital payment growth real or just government claims?
The government has hired an independent third party to verify the figures and close any reporting gaps. State Bank of Pakistan quarterly data also independently confirms the merchant growth and transaction volume trends. QR-based payment values reaching Rs288 billion in a single recent quarter, as reported in SBP data, is not a number that can be manufactured from thin air. The trajectory is real, even if some of the finer breakdown numbers still need cleaner data.
