PayPakPakistan's only domestic scheme. With its 2016 launch, Pakistan became the 28th country to run one. It competes with Visa and Mastercard on cost. A PayPak domestic credit product was announced for 2026, which would make it the first local credit card.1LINK (Pvt) Ltd (a GIE (economic interest grouping) of Pakistani banks) · since 201616.1 million cards in circulation and about 28% of the Pakistani card market (1LINK, 2025–2026)
Global registry · Asia-Pacific · South Asia
Pakistan Payment systems
10 systems listed.
This country doesn’t have a written market analysis yet: e-commerce shares, regulator, and key players are still to be documented. The systems below, however, are verified.
IBAN · Pakistan
24 characters468 BIC codes
- Total length
- 24 characters
- Bank code position
- 5–8
- BBAN structure
4!a16!c
Structurally valid example
PKcountry code36check digitsSCBLbank0000001123456702account
PK36 SCBL 0000 0011 2345 6702
Learn about this market. The guides and courses that cover it.
Payments in PakistanPayments in Oceania and CanadaPayments in Central AsiaPayments in South Asia outside IndiaPayments in Southeast AsiaPayments in Japan and KoreaAccepting payments in Australia and New ZealandAccepting payments in Indonesia and ThailandAccepting payments in Japan and South KoreaAccepting payments in Southeast AsiaPayments in Asia: super-apps, public rails, and cross-border QROpening a new market: the payments playbook
Card schemes
Instant payments
RaastA free public instant rail with alias addressing (the Raast ID is a mobile number). Pakistan’s government plans to route all of its payments through it. It is the lever for cutting private switches out of the payment chain.State Bank of Pakistan · since 202155.9 million P2M transactions in the January–March 2026 quarter (Q3 of fiscal 2025–26), up from 36.3 million the previous quarter, out of 742.1 million Raast transactions in total (SBP, Quarterly Payment Systems Review, June 2026); 3.7 billion retail payments across all channels in the same quarter, 92% of them digital
Clearing and settlement
NIFT (National Institutional Facilitation Technologies)Pakistan’s check clearing house, with three daily batches (normal, intercity, same-day) settled in PRISM. A rare example of a check ACH run by a private company under central bank supervision.NIFT (Pvt) Ltd (joint venture between banks and the private sector) · since 1995
Wallets
SadaPayA neobank without a banking license, operating under the EMI framework the State Bank of Pakistan created in 2019. It is Pakistan's third path, alongside telco wallets and banks. It received commercial operating approval on April 18, 2022. The EMI framework is the one to know for entering this market without a bank. The official register explicitly separates in-principle approval, pilot, and commercial stages.SadaPay (Pvt.) Ltd. (e-money institution authorized by the State Bank of Pakistan for commercial operations) · since 2022
NayaPayThe first e-money institution authorized in Pakistan under the 2019 EMI framework, with commercial operating approval dated August 30, 2021. That head start is often misreported. It targets young consumers and SMEs. The central bank register shows a genuinely selective framework: only six EMIs in commercial operation, and four authorizations revoked or withdrawn.NayaPay (Pvt.) Ltd. (e-money institution authorized by the State Bank of Pakistan for commercial operations) · since 2021
Mobile money
EasypaisaPakistan’s mobile money pioneer (2009), which in 2025 became the country’s first fully digital retail bank with SBP approval. Its wallet-to-bank trajectory is one to watch as a regional model.Easypaisa Digital Bank (formerly Telenor Microfinance Bank; 55% owned by Telenor Group and 45% by Ant Group (Alipay), giving Telenor control; excluded from the sale of Telenor Pakistan to the PTCL group completed at the end of 2025. In 2026, Telenor hired Citigroup to explore a sale of its 55% stake) · since 2009about 18 million monthly active users, including about 14 million on the app (company statement, 2025)
JazzCashThe country’s leading digital financial services provider, operating under a microfinance bank license rather than a simple e-money license, a telecom-bank model typical of Pakistan.Mobilink Microfinance Bank (VEON / Jazz group) · since 2012about 21 million monthly active users, 57 million registered customers, 850,000 merchants (company statement, 2025)
Acquiring and processing
1LINKThe national interbank switch for ATMs, IBFT, bill payments, and government collections. It operates PayPak, and its clearing batches settle in PRISM.1LINK (Pvt) Ltd (owned by a consortium of banks) · since 1999
Other
PRISM+ (Pakistan Real-time Interbank Settlement Mechanism)Combined RTGS and central securities depository (CSD). PRISM+ moves to the ISO 20022 standard and settles the multilateral net batches of NIFT, 1LINK, and Raast. The country’s single settlement point.State Bank of Pakistan · since 2008
Asaan Mobile Account (AMA)Account opening and everyday transactions (balance, mini statement, interbank transfer, bill payment, PIN management) over USSD, from any phone on any network, with no mobile data. It is Pakistan’s inclusion rail for people without smartphones, separate from Raast, which handles its interbank settlement.State Bank of Pakistan (financial inclusion program run with technical support from the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority and connected to branchless banking providers) · since 2021