The use of E-banking channels has witnessed a healthy trend in banking industry as evident from increase of E-banking transactions by 16pc in volume and 4pc in value during the last fiscal year.
The real-time online banking transactions also rose to 135.4 million by volume and Rs 32.3 trillion by value showing an increase of 19pc in volume and 2pc in value of E-banking transactions during period under review.
According to statistics issued by State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), the use of Alternate Delivery Channels (ADCs) such as ATMs, Point of Sale (PoS) terminals, internet and mobile banking also showed rising trend till June 16 as 39.2 million transactions valuing approximately Rs 200 billion were carried out at PoS terminals as compared to 32.1 million transactions valuing Rs 172 billion which showed a surge of 22pc in volume and 16pc in value as compared to the previous year.
Likewise, internet and mobile banking also showed steady growth. The internet banking rose to 18pc in volume and 10pc in value whereas mobile banking showed an increase of 8pc in volume and 5pc in value during the period under review.
The payment system infrastructure showed phenomenal growth during the period under review. The number of branches increased from 11,937 to 13,179 whereas total number of ATMs installed in the country increased from 9,597 to 11,381 during the year. On the other hand, 9,586 PoS terminals were added to the network totalling 50,769 POS terminals till June 30, 2016.
During 2016, the payment systems in Pakistan have shown significant growth in key performance indicators. It is encouraging to witness consistent upward trend in volume and value of payments through digital/electronic channels which compliment the SBP vision to promote digital payments in the country.
The volume and value of large value transactions through Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) reached 930,501 and Rs 231.7 trillion respectively during 2016, showing an increase of 21pc and 29 pc in volume and value respectively from 2015.
Though the volume of paper based transactions has decreased by 6 pc during the year, they still constitute approximately 38 pc of volume of total retail payments. On the other hand, SBP is working on a two pronged strategy for effectively enabling the adoption of electronic/digital payments by general public in Pakistan.
Firstly, the expansion of infrastructure at three different levels: instruments (like cards and wallets), access points (like ATMs, PoSs, and mobile devices) and central payment processers (like switches and gateways).
Secondly, the strengthening of regulatory and oversight frameworks for ensuring the safety and soundness of these payment infrastructures which, in turn, will enhance the trust and confidence of ordinary consumers on these alternate payment methods.
