E-Banking transactions grow by 15pc in first quarter of FY13

ISLAMABAD: The volume and value of e-banking transactions depicted a growth of 15 percent to 74.87 million and by 5 percent to Rs. 6.5 trillion respectively during the first quarter of financial year 2012-13 as compared same period of last year.

According to State Bank's Payment Systems Review released on Wednesday, 242 more Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) were installed by banks bringing the total number of ATMs in the country to 5,987.

ATM transactions have a major share of 58.6 percent with an average value of Rs. 9,810 per transaction as the overall value and volume of ATM transactions increased by 22 percent and 13 percent respectively.

The share of ATMs in the total e-banking transactions in value was 6.7 percent where as 121 more bank branches were added to the network of Real-Time Online Branches (RTOBs).

Now 9,412 branches, out of 10,111 bank's branches, offer RTOB services across the country where as volume and value of RTOB transactions also increased by 21 percent and 4 percent respectively as compared to transactions in the first quarter of the previous fiscal year.

The number of plastic cards in the country also increased by 9.55 percent in first quarter of FY13 compared to the preceding quarter as 19.67 million plastic cards were issued by the end of first quarter of FY13 in the country.

The value and volume of transactions through Point of Sale (POS) terminalsstood at Rs. 20.8 billion and 4.3 million showing a growth of 15 percent and 5 percent respectively as compared to the first quarter of the previous fiscal year.

The Review pointed out that the recorded volume and value of large-value payments through Real Time Gross Settlements (RTGS) were 110,255 and Rs.38.49trillion respectively in the first quarter of FY13. This showed 53.3 percent increase in value and 27 percent increase in volume as compared to the first quarter of previous fiscal year.

The significant increase in value of RTGS transactions is due to settlement against securities transactions which increased by 73.4 percent in the first quarter of FY13 that has a major portion in RTGS transactions followed by Interbank Funds Transfers and settlement of retail cheques through multilateral clearing; contributing 63.8pc, 28.4pc and 7.8pc respectively.