Pakistan’s Cashless Pakistan initiative has crossed a major milestone, with the number of merchants accepting digital payments rising fourfold to more than 2 million within a year as the government steps up efforts to promote a digital economy.

The progress was reviewed during a high-level meeting chaired by Minister of State for Finance and Railways Bilal Azhar Kayani, who assessed the first year of the initiative launched in June 2025 under the supervision of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

According to the Finance Division, annual digital payment transactions increased from 6.9 billion to 11.3 billion over the past year. The number of active merchants accepting digital payments climbed from 500,000 to more than 2 million, supported by the government’s Raast QR Code initiative. Digital banking users also crossed 135 million during the period.

The government said financial inclusion improved to 69 percent, while the gender gap in access to financial services continued to narrow through targeted measures.

During the meeting, Kayani reviewed progress on the digitisation of public services and said 25 high-impact federal and provincial entities have been selected for full integration with the Raast payment system by December 2026.

He added that nearly 75 percent of government-to-people payments are now being accepted digitally across centralised and self-accounting government entities.

Kayani said the government would continue to work with the State Bank of Pakistan, financial institutions, fintech firms, and the private sector to expand digital payments, improve financial inclusion, and support a more documented economy.

To improve transparency and reporting accuracy, the minister directed officials to validate the reported progress, remove duplicate data, and address gaps in reporting. The government has also engaged an independent third party to evaluate the initiative’s performance and verify the reported achievements.