Mobile phone banking transactions surge 138%

KARACHI: Transactions made through mobile phone banking recorded a surge of 138 per cent to Rs2.16 trillion during the first quarter (July-September) of the current fiscal year, according to the payment system review issued by the State Bank of Pakistan.

The transactions worth Rs908 billion were made during the same quarter of the last fiscal year.

The number of transactions made through mobile phone banking also recorded a growth of 117 per cent to Rs36.4 million during the first quarter of the current fiscal year, compared with 79.1 million in the same period of the last fiscal year.

According to the report, the journey of migrating from a cash-intensive economy towards a digital economy continued as e-banking posted a 12 per cent growth in terms of volume and 16 per cent growth in terms of value.

“This uptake was majorly spurred by 11.3 million mobile banking users,” the report noted.

Internet banking also contributed to the growth of e-banking services by registering 31 per cent growth in internet banking users who conducted 6 per cent more transactions than the previous quarter, amounting to 10 per cent increase in the value of the transactions.

The call centre banking showed a decline of 21 per cent by value, even its volume grew one per cent. “This indicates people are now graduating to other medium, i.e., internet and mobile banking.”

Digital adoption by merchants showed mixed signs of growth. The number of e-commerce merchants reduced to 2,993 from 3,003; however, the number of point of sale (POS) machines increased 10 per cent to 79,134.

“This can mainly be attributed to ease down in the lockdown restrictions. As the brick-and-mortar stores opened up and the footfall in the market gained momentum, the demand and usage of POS terminals has increased.”

The report highlighted the significant growth of payments through cards. As of end of September 2021, there were 46.2 million cards in circulation, which included debit cards with around 64 per cent share; social welfare cards having 22 per cent share; ATMs, 10 per cent; credit cards, 4 per cent; while prepaid cards have the share of 0.3 per cent.

The paper-based transactions still attract the banking customers. During the quarter under review, an increase of 5 per cent in volume of paper-based transactions and 3 per cent increase in the value of paper-based transactions were observed.

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) said that the people are returning to traditional channels, as pandemic-related restrictions were lifted.