Governor State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Jameel Ahmad announced a significant increase in the number of unique bank accounts in Pakistan, rising from 16 percent of the adult population in 2018 to 64 percent in 2024. This four-fold increase over six years was highlighted during his keynote address at the 13th Bank of The Future Forum.
Governor SBP attributed this growth to the SBP’s proactive measures, including the introduction of branchless banking regulations in 2008, which enabled basic banking services to be delivered through retail stores and kiryana shops. This initiative significantly boosted the number of unique bank accounts in the country.
In 2022, the SBP further advanced its digital banking agenda by issuing a framework for establishing Digital Banks in Pakistan, facilitating the entry of IT-enabled, non-banking entities into the financial services industry. As a result, five applicants received in-principle approvals and are set to commence pilot operations soon.
The governor also discussed the transformation of Pakistan’s retail payments industry with the implementation of the ISO-20022 payment standard. This led to the launch of Raast, an instant payment system, in 2021. In just under three years, Raast has processed approximately 850 million transactions worth over Rs. 19 trillion, with 38 million unique Raast IDs and an average of 2.5 million transactions processed daily. The SBP is working on integrating Raast with the Arab Monetary Fund’s Buna system to facilitate remittances from Pakistanis living in Arab countries.
Governor Ahmad highlighted the growth of digital financial services, noting that Pakistan now has around 59 million branchless banking wallets, 19 million mobile banking apps, 3.7 million e-money wallets, and 12 million internet banking users. Since 2020, digital retail transactions have increased by 30 percent, with the share of digital payments in total retail payments rising from 76 percent in FY23 to 84 percent in FY24. Mobile and internet banking transactions are growing at annual rates of 70 percent and 30 percent, respectively.
He praised the emergence of a vibrant fintech sector in Pakistan, which is actively exploring new markets and offering tech-enabled services. The governor encouraged the IT sector to play a crucial role in this digital transformation.
Governor Ahmad concluded by noting that rapid technological advancements have empowered banks to offer innovative financial services and enabled regulators to ensure compliance more effectively through advanced data collection and processing capabilities.
