Karachi: Digital financial transactions in the country showed strong growth during the financial year 2020-21, replacing traditional banking transactions at a faster rate than the banking industry expected.
According to State Bank’s latest Annual Payment Systems Review (PSR) for FY 2011, released on Friday, transactions processed through the large-value payments segment of SBP, also known as Real-time Inter-Bank Settlement Mechanism (PRISM). Known to have registered an increase of 60. Percentage by quantity and 12.8 percent by value.
As of June 30 this year, there were 51 direct participants in the PRISM system – 34 banks, seven microfinance banks, nine development finance institutions and one non-bank entity (Central Depository Company). During FY 2011, PRISM processed 42 million transactions worth Rs 444.6 trillion.
SBP’s interbank mechanism processed 4.2 million transactions worth 444.6tr
“Overall e-banking transactions registered a growth of 31.1 per cent, indicating a significant increase in the adoption of digital modes of payment,” the SBP report said.
This growth was due to mobile banking (29 percent growth in users and 133.6 percent and 178.7 percent growth in volume and value, respectively) and internet banking (32 percent growth in users and 65.1 percent and 91.7 percent growth respectively). Hui. in quantity and price respectively).
“This promising growth was achieved with 27 banks offering app-based banking as well as innovative payment solutions to accept digital transactions with other entities,” the report said.
The trend of adoption of digital payments for retail transactions has been increasing during FY 2011. The number of POS (Point of Sale) machines accepting cards saw an increase of 47 per cent. “Transactions processed through POS machines reached 88.8 million rupees, reaching Rs 453.1 billion, showing a growth of 26.3 per cent year-on-year and 24.4 per cent in value terms,” the SBP report said.
The same trend was reflected in e-commerce transactions as well. The number of e-commerce merchants reached 3,003, showing a double-digit growth of 76 percent. Consumers carried out 21.9 million online transactions worth Rs 60.6 billion at these locally registered e-commerce merchants during FY 2011, showing a significant growth of 114.8pc and 74.1pc respectively in terms of volume and value.
Similarly, in favor of card issuance, by the end of June 2021, a total of 45.9m cards were in circulation, mainly debit cards (65pc), social welfare cards (18.4pc), ATM cards only (12.6pc), Credit card included. (3.7 pcs) and prepaid cards (0.3 pcs).
“Collectively, these cards accounted for 708.7 million transactions amounting to Rs 8.4 trillion during FY21. The number of debit cards has grown to 29.8 million at the end of FY 2021, seeing a growth of 11.8 per cent and an annual growth of 13.8 per cent during the last four years,” the SBP report said.
Transactions processed through ATMs increased to 598.7m with a total value of 8.1tr. It showed an increase of 16.9 pc and 25.6 pc in value terms respectively on year-on-year basis.
State Bank expects the growth momentum to continue to strengthen in all key segments of the digital payments ecosystem going forward.
Published in Dawn, October 23, 2021