The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) is preparing a comprehensive plan aimed at making digital payments more accessible and simpler for traders across the country. This initiative is part of a broader effort by the government to deepen the shift towards a cashless economy and improve overall transparency in financial transactions.
Details of these developments emerged from a weekly review meeting on cashless and digital economy initiatives held on Thursday. According to an official statement released by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), the session was chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and attended by key stakeholders responsible for steering Pakistan’s digital transformation agenda.
During the meeting, it was disclosed that the Digital Payments Innovation and Adoption Committee, the Digital Public Infrastructure Committee, and the Government Payments Committee have all been formally constituted. These committees had been proposed in an earlier meeting to craft policies and frameworks to drive digital adoption. In their first presentations to the prime minister, these bodies outlined strategic proposals aimed at accelerating the country’s digital payments landscape.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif emphasized the critical importance of promoting digital transactions to inject transparency into the economy and reduce informal cash-based dealings. Highlighting the urgency of transitioning to cashless methods, he noted that such a system was vital for streamlining tax collections and ensuring a documented flow of money across sectors.
As part of the facilitation push, a special package is being developed to encourage small businesses to adopt digital payment platforms. This package is expected to address operational hurdles and offer incentives that could ease the transition for retailers and small traders who have traditionally relied on cash.
Targets laid out during the meeting indicate the scale of ambition: the government is aiming to grow the number of mobile app users engaged in digital payments from the current 95 million to 120 million. Similarly, the number of merchants accepting QR code-based payments is planned to more than double, rising from around 0.9 million to 2 million. Overall, the volume of digital payments is expected to increase from Rs7.5 billion to Rs12 billion.
Updates were also shared on various connected projects under the Digital National Pakistan vision. The Islamabad City mobile application, for instance, has achieved 1.3 million downloads and presently offers 15 government-related services. It has already facilitated collections worth Rs15.5 billion under the ICT Excise and Taxation category.
Progress was also noted on the Digital Pakistan ID initiative, which is moving ahead with speed, and efforts are underway to roll out Wi-Fi coverage across Islamabad. This connectivity push is being prioritized in hospitals, educational institutions, government departments, parks, and even along metro bus corridors.
Prime Minister Shehbaz directed that these facilities be extended beyond the federal capital to Azad Jammu & Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan to ensure broader digital inclusion.
With SBP now actively formulating mechanisms to simplify digital transactions for traders, Pakistan’s push toward a digitally integrated economy appears to be gaining momentum. This strategy is expected to help small merchants join formal financial networks, drive e-commerce growth, and build a stronger, transparent economic ecosystem.