The National Bank of Pakistan has entered into a strategic partnership with ISTIQEME to accelerate the deployment of merchant QR codes and bolster the national digital payments landscape. This collaboration aims to enhance the accessibility of digital financial tools through targeted training and comprehensive operational support. A formal signing ceremony took place at NBP’s Regional Office in Karachi, attended by senior executives from both entities, signaling a unified effort to modernize how small and medium-sized merchants handle transactions across the country.
During the event, Adnan Nasir, Chief Digital Officer at NBP, emphasized that the partnership reflects a shared vision to empower the merchant community with seamless digital solutions. The focus of the initiative is to build a robust and reliable QR payment infrastructure that not only supports financial inclusion but also aligns with the broader digital transformation goals of the country. This move is a direct contribution to the Government of Pakistan’s vision of a cashless economy and follows the mandate of the State Bank of Pakistan to promote digital financial services at every level of society.
Under the terms of this new collaboration, ISTIQEME will offer extensive end-to-end support to the National Bank of Pakistan. This includes generating merchant leads, facilitating the account opening process, and the physical deployment of QR code infrastructure. Crucially, the partnership involves conducting awareness and training sessions for merchants to ensure they can confidently navigate digital platforms. ISTIQEME will also provide operational assistance directly to NBP branches, streamlining the onboarding and activation process to ensure that digital payment tools are deployed with maximum efficiency and minimal friction.
The ceremony featured Muhammad Kamran Khan, CEO of ISTIQEME, alongside a prominent delegation from NBP, including Mahmood Akhtar Nadeem, Zohaib Ali Khan, and other regional leaders. By combining ISTIQEME’s technical expertise in digital enablement with NBP’s massive nationwide banking network, the alliance is positioned to significantly increase the acceptance of digital payments in local markets. This scale is essential for bringing informal retail activity into the documented economy and providing merchants with the financial history needed to access more sophisticated banking products in the future.
As the digitization of the Pakistani economy continues to gather pace, such partnerships between traditional banking giants and specialized fintech enablers are becoming increasingly vital. The widespread adoption of QR codes represents a low-cost, high-impact solution for millions of small businesses that may find traditional point-of-sale machines too expensive. By lowering the entry barrier for digital transactions, NBP and ISTIQEME are helping to create a more resilient and modern financial ecosystem. This initiative is expected to drive higher transaction volumes through formal channels, eventually contributing to greater economic transparency and sustainable growth across the retail sector.
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