Pakistan Realtime Interbank Settlement Mechanism (PRISM) settled 225,598 transactions worth Rs 64.1 trillion showing an increase of 5 per cent and 19 per cent in volume and value respectively during the second quarter of the fiscal year 2015-16. The major share in increase of number of PRISM transactions was contributed by Interbank Funds Transfer which increased by 5.29 per cent while increase in value of PRISM transactions was contributed by securities settlement which increased by 18 per cent.
In the second quarter of 2015-16, the volume and value of internet banking transactions showed an increase of 12.29 per cent and 2.17 per cent respectively. The volume and value of Point of Sale (POS) transactions increased slightly by 1.92 per cent and 1.54 per cent compared to last quarter.
Similarly, the volume of mobile banking transactions increased slightly by 2.95 per cent while its value increased by 4.80 per cent as compared to the previous quarter of 2015-16. Automated Teller Machine (ATM) transactions showed a decrease of 2.41% in volume and 3.51% in value as compared to last quarter of FY16. The volume of Real Time Online Banking (RTOB) transactions rose from 29.5 million to 32.7 million whereas the value increased by 13.5% i.e. Rs 7.2 trillion to 8.2 trillion caused by increase in Real Time Cash Withdrawals and Deposits and inclusion of Microfinance Banks (MFBs) data in payment system statistics. Non financial transactions declined by 4.34%.
During the second quarter of current fiscal year, the network of ATMs continued to grow reaching from 10,099 to 10,736. Further, 5,689 POS machines were added to the network showing a growth of 12.82% as compared to first quarter of FY16. The number of cards issued by banks has also increased by 16.27% reaching the total of 33 million at the end of the quarter under review. During the current quarter, registered users of Internet, Mobile and Call Centre banking showed a growth of 3.94% reaching 22 million at the end of second quarter of FY16.