Pakistan must move beyond consuming financial technology developed in other countries and begin building its own fintech infrastructure, technological standards and financial innovations, Minister of State and Chairman of the Pakistan Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (PVARA) Bilal Bin Saqib has said. Speaking at the PBA-LUMS Dialogue on Digital Assets and the Future of Banking, he called on Pakistani banks to develop stronger partnerships with universities, researchers, engineers and emerging technology companies. He stressed that the country’s progress in digital assets should be measured through practical economic outcomes, rather than the number of events organised, memorandums of understanding signed or public announcements made.
Bilal Bin Saqib shared these views during a fireside conversation titled “Partner, Competitor, or Bystander?” with Zafar Masud, Chairman of the Pakistan Banks’ Association (PBA) and President and Chief Executive Officer of the Bank of Punjab. The discussion focused on how digital assets, blockchain-based financial systems and artificial intelligence could influence the future of banking in Pakistan. Bilal said Bitcoin represented only an entry point into a much broader technological transformation that was changing how value moves, how financial assets are held and how businesses access capital.
He referred to developments at international financial institutions, including JPMorgan, HSBC and Standard Chartered, where digital assets are increasingly being explored and integrated into institutional payments, treasury management and capital markets. According to Bilal, the wider opportunity for Pakistan lies beyond creating more digital assets for people to trade. Instead, the country should focus on developing businesses, building financial assets and creating opportunities for individuals and companies to generate wealth through technology-driven economic activities.
The PVARA chairman said Pakistan had historically become a user of financial infrastructure designed and developed elsewhere. He referred to the establishment of correspondent banking arrangements and major international payment networks, noting that the country had largely adopted systems created outside its borders. However, he said developments in digital assets, tokenisation and artificial intelligence were creating an opportunity for Pakistan to participate earlier in the development of emerging financial capabilities.
He questioned whether Pakistan wanted to continue depending on external systems or develop the talent, institutions and technological capabilities needed to build and own parts of its financial infrastructure. He clarified that technological independence did not require the country to reproduce every international payment network or financial system. Rather, it meant developing the expertise and institutional capacity to influence and shape the technologies on which the economy depends.
Addressing Pakistan’s remittance market, Bilal highlighted the country’s annual inflows of $41.6 billion and stressed the importance of reducing the cost of international money transfers. He said changing financial technology and payment infrastructure were making more efficient cross-border transfer arrangements increasingly relevant for banks. He identified supervised, bank-led payment arrangements involving major Gulf remittance corridors as an opportunity worth examining, provided that appropriate regulatory coordination and safeguards were maintained. He emphasised that the objective should be to ensure overseas Pakistanis’ hard-earned money reaches their families with fewer costs, rather than focusing only on increasing the speed of token transfers.
Bilal also encouraged bank presidents and financial institutions to establish deeper partnerships with universities, researchers, engineers and emerging technology companies. He said banks should become platforms that support innovation instead of remaining only customers of technological solutions developed by others. According to him, financial institutions could help Pakistani technology founders by providing access to real business challenges, technical expertise, professional mentorship and opportunities to test their solutions within appropriate regulatory and security arrangements.
He suggested that if major Pakistani banks supported the development of emerging fintech companies, the country could build technology businesses capable of exporting their products and services to international markets. Such collaboration would help connect academic research with practical financial-sector requirements while giving local entrepreneurs opportunities to develop solutions for banking, payments and financial management.
Artificial intelligence was another major area addressed during the discussion. Bilal said AI was changing how financial services were developed, delivered and secured, with applications expanding across fraud detection, risk management, customer service, software engineering and operational efficiency. He explained that artificial intelligence was increasing what smaller technology teams could develop, while new financial infrastructure was changing how those teams could access customers, capital and international markets. He urged Pakistan to bring these developments together through stronger investment in AI capabilities and collaboration between financial institutions and educational organisations such as Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS).
The PVARA chairman also stressed the importance of coordination among PVARA, the State Bank of Pakistan and other relevant regulatory institutions, with each authority operating within its respective statutory responsibilities. He said the adoption of new financial technologies must be accompanied by effective supervision, cybersecurity safeguards, consumer protection and institutional accountability. These measures would be necessary to maintain confidence in digital financial services while allowing innovation to develop within an appropriate regulatory environment.
Looking ahead, Bilal said the next phase of Pakistan’s digital asset development should be assessed through measurable economic results, including the number of businesses that grow, financial problems that are addressed and technological capabilities developed within the country. He encouraged students and young professionals attending the LUMS dialogue to view themselves as potential contributors to the future of global financial technology.
Recalling his involvement in digital assets since 2016, he challenged the younger generation to consider why the next internationally recognised financial technology company could not emerge from Lahore, Karachi or Islamabad. He raised the possibility of a Pakistani student developing such a company with support from a local bank and a workforce of Pakistani engineers. He concluded by encouraging young people to participate in building future financial systems rather than remaining consumers of technology developed elsewhere.
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