Pakistan credit card market has experienced an unprecedented quarterly expansion, adding 900,000 new cards in circulation within a three-month window. According to data compiled by Gallup Pakistan through its Digital Analytics Dashboard and sourced from the State Bank of Pakistan, the total credit card count rose from 2.2 million in fiscal year 2025 to 3.1 million in the first quarter of fiscal year 2026. This surge represents a 44 percent quarter-on-quarter increase, marking the largest short-term growth in the history of the country digital financial ecosystem.
The volume of cards issued during this single quarter exceeds the aggregate net growth recorded over the preceding six years combined. Between fiscal year 2019 and fiscal year 2025, the national credit card base grew at a gradual pace, moving from 1.6 million to 2.2 million cards. Paralleling the rapid rise in card issuance, transactional activity also spiked dramatically. State Bank figures reveal that the total monetary value of credit card transactions conducted at automated teller machines expanded nearly sixfold over the same three-month observation period.
Despite the sharp statistical leap, commercial banking institutions, fintech platforms, and consumer lending organizations did not publicize any large-scale promotional drives or national card issuance campaigns during the quarter. Financial industry analysts suggest that the sudden expansion may stem from structural factors, such as a major white-label card distribution program, a regulatory reclassification of existing revolving credit products, or the formal integration of buy-now-pay-later digital credit products into central bank reporting frameworks. Central monetary authorities have not issued a formal clarification regarding the underlying accounting mechanisms driving the jump.
Even with this record-breaking quarterly growth, credit cards remain a small portion of the overall payment infrastructure in the country. Debit cards continue to dominate the domestic transaction landscape, representing approximately 90 percent of the total 61.3 million payment cards currently active nationwide. By comparison, credit cards account for roughly 4 percent of the total card base. As digital onboarding tools and micro-credit platforms continue to mature, financial analysts anticipate further structural shifts in how consumers access credit and engage with electronic payment channels.
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