PM Shehbaz orders complete digitalization 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 efforts 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 asked banks and financial institutions to play a greater role in the development of digital payments and congratulated his economic team for the progress made over the past year in developing 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 called the growth in the number of mobile banking users a “significant achievement” and ordered the authorities to fully digitalize the flow of funds from abroad, the statement said.

The prime minister also welcomed 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 called on authorities to step up public awareness campaigns to encourage wider adoption of QR code payments.

According to the briefing, the number of merchants accepting digital payments increased to 2.003 million between June 2025 and June 2026. Officials said 99% of payments in the national database and registration authority had been digitized, while cash transactions had declined from 71% to just 1%.

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Prime Minister Shehbaz also welcomed 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 Prime Minister said.

The officials informed the meeting that all payments to the 10 million BISP beneficiaries were now being 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 in November 2026.

The officials also said that the Association of Banks of Pakistan has assigned targets to its member banks to develop digital payments, including through the Raast instant payment system.