ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday chaired a meeting on the promotion of a cashless economy and digital payments, and appreciated the performance of the economic team over the progress made during the last one year.
The Prime Minister said shifting the national economy to a cashless system would ensure sustainable economic growth and promote transparency. He paid tribute to the economic team for increasing the number of active merchants using QR codes for digital payments by 300 per cent in one year.
He directed that the awareness campaign to encourage merchants to adopt digital payments through QR codes be made more effective.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif termed the increase in mobile banking app users from 95 million to 137 million in one year an important achievement. He said banks and financial institutions should play their full role in promoting a cashless economy.
The Prime Minister also directed that remittances coming from abroad be made 100 per cent digital.
He appreciated the initiative to shift payments under the Benazir Income Support Programme to a digital system, describing it as transparent, fast and convenient for beneficiaries.
The meeting was briefed on the progress of measures for a cashless economy. It was informed that from June 2025 to June 2026, the number of merchants receiving payments digitally had increased by 300 per cent to 2.003 million.
The briefing was told that 99 per cent of NADRA payments had been digitised, while cash payments had declined from 71 per cent to only 1 per cent.
It was further informed that all payments to 10 million Benazir Income Support Programme users were being made through digital wallets.
According to the briefing, the current number of mobile banking app users stands at 137 million. During July 2025 to June 2026, 11.9 billion digital transactions were recorded.
The meeting was also informed that 92 per cent of remittance amounts had been received through digital channels during the last year.
The briefing said third-party validation regarding the cashless economy was under way, and the final report, along with recommendations, would be presented in November 2026.
It was also stated that the Pakistan Banking Association had assigned targets to its member banks for the promotion of digital payments, including the RAAST system.
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 Ahmad, the NADRA chairman and senior officials of relevant institutions attended the meeting.
