Pakistan digital payments have crossed a milestone that few expected so soon. Nine out of every ten retail transactions in the country now go through a digital channel, not a cash counter. SBP Deputy Governor Muhammad Ali Malik put a precise number on this shift at the fourth Pakistan Fintech Forum (PFF IV) in Karachi on 2 September 2026, and the figure was 92 percent.
That single statistic captures a transformation that has been building quietly for years. It also raises a bigger question: now that digital payments are the norm, what comes next?
Pakistan Digital Payments by the Numbers
Pakistan’s retail payments through the banking system reached 3.7 billion transactions in the January to March 2026 quarter, up 9 percent from the previous quarter, with a total value of Rs168.8 trillion.
Digital channels drove this growth, with transaction volumes climbing to 3.41 billion and their value reaching Rs68.3 trillion. These digital channels accounted for 92 percent of total retail payments by volume.
This is up from 88 percent a year earlier, which means the country added four percentage points in just twelve months. At that pace, the cash share of formal retail transactions could shrink to near single digits within a couple of years.
The digital channels counted in these figures include mobile banking apps, digital wallets, internet banking, USSD, ATMs, POS terminals, e-commerce platforms and call or IVR banking services.
Mobile Apps Are Doing the Heavy Lifting
Within the 92 percent digital total, mobile apps stand out as the dominant engine. Mobile app-based payments accounted for 2.9 billion transactions, making up 78 percent of all digital payments and carrying a value of Rs42 trillion. These covered person-to-person transfers, bill payments, and merchant payments across online and physical retail.
By March 2026, branchless banking mobile app users reached 95.8 million, banking mobile app users grew to 28.9 million, EMI wallet users rose to 7.3 million and internet banking users climbed to 16.2 million.
The number of registered mobile banking and digital wallet users rose to more than 132 million by the end of March 2026, up from 96 million a year earlier. That is a 37.5 percent jump in user numbers in one year alone.
Raast Keeps Growing Fast
Pakistan’s instant payment rail, Raast, is a big reason behind these numbers. Raast processed 742.1 million transactions valued at Rs23.3 trillion during January to March 2026. Person-to-person payments rose 10 percent over the previous quarter to 664 million transactions worth Rs18.9 trillion.
Person-to-merchant payments also grew strongly, rising from 36.3 million transactions to 55.9 million in the same period. The jump in merchant payments is particularly meaningful because it shows small businesses are moving onto the digital rails, not just individual users.
The SBP Deputy Governor noted that small businesses are now generating cash flow data through their digital payment activity, data that can help them access credit and other financial services later on. This is where the story gets interesting for Pakistan’s next phase.
What the SBP Said at PFF IV
State Bank Deputy Governor Muhammad Ali Malik addressed the forum, saying 92 percent of payments in Pakistan are now made digitally, and that building trust is the next step for growing fintech adoption further.
He said at the forum that the SBP’s focus is not only on expanding digital access, but on building trust, strengthening regulation and accountability, and enabling digital financial services to translate into meaningful economic activity.
Pakistan Fintech Network Chairman Syed Nadeem Hussain said the fintech sector has moved beyond simply increasing digital adoption, with the focus now shifting to building an ecosystem that can scale responsibly. He called for greater regulatory clarity, resilient infrastructure and stronger cooperation between banks and fintech companies, particularly to expand access to credit.
This is the coverage gap most reports miss. Getting 92 percent of transactions onto digital rails was the first chapter. The second chapter, which regulators and industry leaders are now openly discussing, is using all that payment data to extend credit to the millions of Pakistanis who have never had a bank loan.
For more background on the regulatory framework being built around this shift, see our earlier piece on how Pakistan Fintech Forum brought four regulators onto one stage to coordinate the next phase of digital finance. The SBP has also been working on infrastructure to support cashless merchant adoption, as covered in our report on the centralized merchant database plan aimed at powering the cashless push.
Why This Matters for Everyday Pakistanis
For most people in Pakistan, the change is already visible. Sending money to a relative in another city, paying a utility bill or buying something from a local shop can now be done in seconds from a phone. The 92 percent figure confirms that this is not just urban behaviour. It is the national norm across the formal banking system.
The remaining 8 percent of over-the-counter cash transactions is still a very large number in absolute terms, given the size of Pakistan’s economy. As of March 2026, 20,232 bank branches and 819,397 banking agents still provided over-the-counter services such as cash deposits, withdrawals, fund transfers and bill payments. Physical access points remain important, especially for people in rural areas or those without smartphones.
The bigger shift coming is in credit. Once people have a digital payment history, they build a data trail. Lenders can use that trail to judge whether someone is a good borrower, even if they have never taken a formal loan before. That is the next frontier the State Bank of Pakistan is now focused on opening up.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does the 92% figure for Pakistan digital payments actually mean?
It means that 92 out of every 100 retail transactions processed through Pakistan’s formal banking and payment system are now done digitally, whether through a mobile app, ATM, POS terminal, internet banking or a digital wallet. Only 8 percent of transactions by volume still happen in cash at a counter.
Which quarter does this data cover?
The State Bank of Pakistan’s Quarterly Payment Systems Report covering January to March 2026 recorded nearly 3.7 billion retail transactions worth Rs168.8 trillion during the quarter through formal banking and payment channels. Deputy Governor Muhammad Ali Malik cited this data at PFF IV in September 2026.
What is Raast and why does it matter?
Raast is Pakistan’s instant payment system, run by the State Bank of Pakistan. It lets people send money to each other or to merchants instantly and for free. Raast processed 742.1 million transactions worth Rs23.3 trillion in the January to March 2026 quarter alone. Its growth in merchant payments signals that businesses are adopting it too, not just individual users.
What comes after digital payments?
Regulators and industry leaders at PFF IV made clear that the next focus is digital credit. Small businesses that now have cash flow data from their digital payment activity can potentially use that data to access credit and other financial services for the first time. Expanding affordable loans to unbanked and underbanked Pakistanis is the stated priority for the SBP and the fintech sector going forward.
