PM directs full digitization of remittances from abroad

ISLAMABAD Report by Muhammad saleem )
Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif chaired a high-level meeting on promoting a cashless economy and digital payments, reviewing the progress made over the past year in transforming Pakistan’s economy toward a digital payments-based system.
The Prime Minister commended the economic team’s performance, stating that shifting the national economy to a cashless system would ensure sustainable economic growth and promote transparency. He praised the team for achieving a 300 percent increase in the number of active merchants using QR codes for digital payments over the past year, and directed that awareness campaigns be made more effective to further encourage merchants to adopt QR-based digital transactions.
The meeting was briefed that the number of merchants receiving digital payments rose by 300 percent, reaching 2,003,000 between June 2025 and June 2026. NADRA has digitized 99 percent of its payments, with cash payments falling from 71 percent to just 1 percent. All payments to the 10 million beneficiaries of the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) are now being made through digital wallets.
According to the briefing, the number of mobile banking app users grew from 95 million to 137 million over the past year. A total of 11.9 billion digital transactions were recorded between July 2025 and June 2026, while 92 percent of remittances received from abroad came through digital channels during the past year.
The Prime Minister directed banks and financial institutions to play an active role in promoting the cashless economy and instructed that remittances from overseas be fully digitized. The meeting was informed that third-party validation of the cashless economy initiative is underway, with a final report and recommendations to be presented in November 2026.
The Pakistan Banking Association has set targets for member banks to promote digital payments, including through the RAAST system. The meeting was attended by federal ministers Ahad Khan Cheema, Muhammad Aurangzeb, Attaullah Tarar, Shaza Fatima Khawaja, and Ali Pervaiz Malik, Minister of State for Finance Bilal Azhar Kayani, State Bank Governor Jameel Ahmed, the Chairman of NADRA, and senior officials from relevant institutions.