Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday lauded his economic team for achieving significant progress in promoting digital payments and advancing Pakistan\u2019s transition towards a cashless economy over the past year, saying the shift would enhance transparency, improve financial inclusion, and support sustainable economic growth.<\/p>\n
Chairing a meeting on the promotion of a cashless economy and digital payments, the prime minister praised the economic team for increasing the number of active merchants using QR code-based digital payments by 300 percent within a year.
\nHe also described the rise in mobile banking application users from 95 million to 137 million as a major achievement.<\/p>\n
The prime minister directed the authorities to further strengthen awareness campaigns to encourage greater adoption of QR code-based digital payments among merchants. He also called on banks and financial institutions to play a more proactive role in accelerating the country\u2019s transition to a cashless economy.<\/p>\n
He directed that 100% of overseas remittances should be received through digital channels.<\/p>\n
The prime minister appreciated the initiative to shift Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) payments to a digital system, describing it as more transparent, faster, and more convenient for beneficiaries.<\/p>\n
During the briefing, it was informed in the meeting that from June 2025 to June 2026, the number of merchants receiving digital payments increased by 300%, reaching 2,003,000 while 99% of NADRA\u2019s payments have been digitized, and cash payments have declined from 71% to just 1%.<\/p>\n
Similarly, it was informed that all payments to 10 million Benazir Income Support Programme beneficiaries are now being made through digital wallets. The current number of mobile banking app users stands at 137 million.<\/p>\n
Between July 2025 and June 2026, a total of 11.9 billion digital transactions were recorded.
\nDuring the past year, 92% of remittances from overseas Pakistanis were received through digital channels.<\/p>\n
An independent third-party validation of the cashless economy initiative is currently underway, and the final report, along with recommendations, will be presented in November 2026, the prime minister was informed.<\/p>\n
The Pakistan Banks\u2019 Association has assigned targets to its member banks to promote digital payments, including the RAAST instant payment system.<\/p>\n
The meeting was attended by Federal Ministers Ahad Khan Cheema, Muhammad Aurangzeb, Attaullah Tarar, Shaza Fatima Khawaja, Ali Pervaiz Malik, Minister of State for Finance Bilal Azhar Kayani, State Bank Governor Jameel Ahmad, the Chairman of NADRA, and senior officials from relevant institutions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday lauded his economic team for achieving significant progress in promoting digital payments and advancing Pakistan\u2019s transition towards a cashless economy over the past year, saying the shift would enhance transparency, improve financial inclusion, and support sustainable economic growth. Chairing a meeting on the promotion of a cashless economy […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":556215,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-556202","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-top-news"],"yoast_head":"\n