PM Shehbaz leads full digitization of overseas remittances

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday ordered authorities to ensure that all overseas remittances are processed through digital channels as part of the government’s broader push towards a cashless economy, saying the transition would promote sustainable economic growth and improve transparency, according to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).

Chairing a meeting on promoting digital payments and a cashless economy, the prime minister also directed banks and financial institutions to play a bigger role in expanding digital payments and praised his economic team for the progress made over the past year in advancing Pakistan’s digital economy.

Officials told the meeting that 92% of overseas remittances received between July 2025 and June 2026 had already been transferred through digital channels. During the same period, Pakistan recorded 11.9 billion digital transactions, while the number of mobile banking app users increased from 95 million to 137 million.

Prime Minister Shehbaz described the growth in mobile banking users as “a significant achievement” and directed authorities to fully digitize remittance flows from abroad, the statement said.

The prime minister also praised efforts to expand QR code-based payments, noting that the number of merchants accepting digital payments had increased by 300% over the past year. He instructed authorities to intensify public awareness campaigns to encourage wider adoption of QR code payments.

According to the report, the number of merchants accepting digital payments increased to 2.003 million between June 2025 and June 2026. Authorities said 99% of National Database and Registration Authority payments had been digitized, while cash transactions had decreased from 71% to just 1%.

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Chief Minister Shehbaz also hailed the transition of payments under the Benazir Income Support Program (BISP) to digital wallets, saying the move had made disbursements “more transparent, faster and easier for beneficiaries”, the PMO said.

Officials informed the meeting that all payments to 10 million BISP beneficiaries are now made through digital wallets.

According to the PMO, a third-party validation of the cashless economy initiative is underway, with a final report and recommendations expected by November 2026.

Officials also said the Pakistan Banks Association had assigned targets to member banks to expand digital payments, including through the Raast instant payment system.