1LINK has reinforced Pakistan’s card payments ecosystem by achieving Mastercard certification for its purpose-built, state-of-the-art PCI-compliant Card Personalization Bureau. The certification validates the bureau’s secure, scalable, and end-to-end personalization and card fulfillment capabilities, positioning 1LINK as a key enabler of secure and interoperable digital payment solutions in the country.
The highly automated facility supports the entire card personalization lifecycle, from secure data personalization to packaging, with near-zero human intervention. This design ensures compliance with the highest international security and quality standards, offering banks a reliable and efficient solution for card issuance.
1LINK’s indigenously developed personalization bureau already serves more than ten leading banks in Pakistan, including the country’s largest card issuers. With Mastercard certification, the bureau now extends support to a wide range of products, including PayPak cards, Mastercard cards, PayPak-Mastercard co-badged cards, UPI cards, and PayPak-UPI co-badged cards. This expanded capability enables issuing banks to reach a broader customer base while benefiting from operational resilience, enhanced scale, and international scheme compliance.
In addition to primary card issuance, 1LINK’s personalization bureau serves as a strategic business continuity partner for banks operating in-house personalization facilities. By providing fallback assurance, scalability, and operational continuity, the bureau mitigates risks associated with in-house card fulfillment disruptions, ensuring uninterrupted service delivery.
The Mastercard-certified bureau also supports the personalization of all Mastercard debit and credit card variants, including Standard, Gold, Titanium, Platinum, World, and World Elite. This comprehensive capability gives issuers greater flexibility, operational efficiency, and choice while enabling faster and more reliable nationwide card delivery.
Mr. Najeeb Agrawalla, CEO of 1LINK, stated, “By bringing Mastercard-certified personalization capabilities to our card bureau, we are enabling banks to focus on their core business while delivering cards faster and more reliably nationwide. This capability also supports PayPak issuance and Cards in Force enablement, including PayPak-Mastercard co-badged cards, routed locally via PayPak and internationally through Mastercard.”
The milestone reflects the growing maturity of Pakistan’s local payments infrastructure, reinforcing confidence across the banking and payments sector. It highlights the country’s progress toward secure, future-ready digital payment systems, with 1LINK positioned as a trusted service provider and technology partner for banks across the nation.
With the new certification, banks in Pakistan can leverage 1LINK’s secure and scalable card personalization capabilities to strengthen customer engagement, expand product offerings, and enhance operational resilience. The facility’s automation, combined with its compliance with international standards, ensures that the evolving demands of the payments industry are met efficiently, enabling a robust ecosystem for cardholders and financial institutions alike.
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