Ashraf Mahmood Wathra, Governor State Bank of Pakistan inaugurated Pakistan’s first domestic Payment Scheme in Karachi on 5th April 2016. The new payment scheme has been branded as “PayPak” and will compete in the domestic market with other international payment schemes. However, the new card will only be used within Pakistan and will offer the benefit of low cost, ease of affordability and security to ordinary citizens.
It may be recalled here that “PayPak” has been introduced by 1Link which is already providing interoperability services for ATM transactions as well as interbank fund transfers and utility bill payment facility. With this launch, Pakistan became the 28th country in the world to have her own domestic payment scheme.
The Governor emphasized that secure and efficient payment systems are critical for effective functioning of the financial system and crucial for the provision of digital financial services like collecting and making payments; making deposits and obtaining credit; buying goods; paying utility bills; paying for housing, healthcare, insurance and education; remitting money to friends, family, and business partners. These services may be availed by using channels such as mobile phone, kiosk, or other digital interfaces.
The Governor informed the audience that one of the strategic goals of SBP for the year 2020 is to transform the digital payments landscape in the country by ensuring digital financial access to both the un-served and underserved population while at the same time reducing the transaction cost and improving overall efficiency.
The Governor appreciated the launch of the domestic payment scheme and expressed that this initiative will not only provide affordable, safe, and efficient alternative to the existing banked population in the country but will also provide an opportunity to offer low cost payment services to the unbanked citizens thus bringing them in the sphere of financial inclusion. The Governor expressed hope that this launch will catalyze the adoption and usage of plastic card among consumers, merchants and banks in Pakistan. Furthermore, launch of domestic payment scheme will also help in reducing the outflow of foreign exchange to International Payment Schemes as a part of fee payment.
Governor urged the financial sector in the country to take advantage of the current favorable market environment by investing in innovative technologies and product offerings to expand payment services and broaden access to financial services in Pakistan. He urged the banks in Pakistan to rapidly adopt the new payment scheme and ensure that its benefits are transferred to ordinary citizens.
Saeeed Ahmad, Deputy Governor SBP, said that by introducing this scheme Pakistan has moved in the right direction by achieving SBP’s two strategic goals i.e. promoting Financial Inclusion and building a Robust and Modern Payment System. He, however, pointed out that while the issuance of domestic card is a good initiative, the banking sector has to create its acceptability among the masses. He advised the banking industry to adopt a more service oriented approach and provide easy access to financial services to their customers.
Earlier, Javaad Khan, Partner of Mackenzie & Co. appreciated the initiative of introducing domestic card scheme and informed that this is the need of the Pakistani market. He informed the audience that with this launch, Pakistan has become one of the few countries who have their own payment scheme. He quoted the case of some other countries like India and Mexico and said that research has shown that countries with their own payment schemes are better able to provide financial services to all levels of their population.
@ Assalamo Allikum Aamir Bhai !
Its good to see this . Besides this Press Release we need you to please elaborate(Seperate and Detailed Post ) the working and implemenation of dynamics of this system. What is the Scope of this “Pakistan own system ” and what if it has something to do with NFC mode of payment ?
no web link :D. if they want to make it sucessful they need to hire few programers who can create API’s of WHMCS, WordPress, Hostbill etc
:P
If it will deal with domestic payment then nothing new. An alternative to PayPal needed or atleast govt should bring PayPal type companies in Pakistan
While scrolling down, I saw “Launched” and “Pay” as I taught Paypal has been launched in Pakistan…!!! The subconscious mind is strange indeed :P
I stopped reading after I knew that it’s not PayPal.
Payments within country is not a problem as IBFT exist. Global payment solutions like Paypal are needed.
on the same lines as Paytm in India?
Bring PayPal to Pakistan and make bank debit cards work online. Even those war torn countries like Somalia and Yemen have got PayPal and better banks.
Pakistani debit cards works online by activating session from Bank for limited time.
but how?
Just get a scb debt card.
Yeah. Thank you very much for your advice. Do you really think it is easy to open account in SCB these days? They are just retaining old customers and have already shutdown most of their branches. They are ready to just fly away any time.
yea can be the case. I think u better opt for 100 rupees account if u think they aren’t opening show them State Bank notice.
Meezan Debt Card as well, i purchased an app on Google Play and Daraz.pk, just call Meezan Call center to activate online purchasing, Min. duration 1hr Max. 12hrs
Ubl WIZ Internet card is best for online payment which can be issued easily by simple process and you don’t need to activate session for every transaction however you can also activate of your ubl or hbl debit card for online payment by activating session for limited time through calling bank helpline.
Wiz cards hardly work online. Most sites give error and they often have got issue with their system. Transactions go unsuccessful. These pakistani banks are plain scumbags who even in 2016 could not make their systems work trouble free.
No they don’t work online. Activating session is not the issue here. These debit cards are not configured properly for working on international websites. (only standard chartered debit cards and mcb lite works online)
MCB lite also have 1000 annual charges but ubl WIZ is nearly free however now wiz is better than first but it’s useless for me because I often buy tickets online and on wiz card customer name is not mention and airline require customer name on card for verification purposes however now I used credit card of Saudi bank SAAB which is totally free for me, I also want to take credit card of any Pakistani bank but there’s in Pakistan there’s no any trend of using credit card. Mostly people like to spend in cash and mostly shops don’t have POS machines for credit card holders.
its only for UBL. For cards like SCB, you dont need to activate the session. Its already activated.
But SCB is flop bank in Pakistan very less branches as compare to hbl or ubl.
If it offers a service no one else does, and you need that service, who cares how many branches it has?
SCB lets cardholders make online transactions without a phone call or whatever. That’s convenient for pretty much everyone.
But they have very less branches even the nearest branch of SCB from my home is 80km away.
So the 1Link cartel wants to help us transfer our money?
this is a nice articles, thanks man
I hope this takes off. It will pave way for other systems and give confidence to international players as well. I hope they have heavily invested in security. That is make and break for such systems.
What kind of a launch ceremony is this? No website, no details, no public offering.
Indeed looks like a “Scheme”.
here is a little about it http://1link.net.pk/paypak/
Happy to hear about it
but i am very confused about what kind of scheme? there is no name, website and no details, is this offering publicly?
May need some correction…
Introduction
In line with State Bank of Pakistan Vision 2020 to enhance and promote Financial Inclusion, 1LINK (Guarantee) Limited brings you Pakistan’s First Domestic Payment Scheme “PayPak” aimed at providing efficient, cost-effective, robust and ubiquities payments solutions.
PayPak’s strategic objective includes offering Domestic Payment Scheme to provide low cost payment services to every citizen of Pakistan.
1LINK has always been in the forefront of enablement of the poor in the country by providing support to BISP, WATAN cards, IDP cards etc. Launch of PayPak is also a step in the same direction.
Did you paid any service charges for activation of session for online payment????
How its different from easypaisa?
PayPak will be a debit / credit card brand just like Visa, MasterCard.
Account opening form and developer integration guide are the basics of an online payment, it’s missing them all. http://1link.net.pk/paypak/