As Pakistan’s path towards achieving a cashless economy gains momentum, local fintech players have stepped up their efforts in executing the government’s vision on the ground.
Aamir Aftab, Chief Product Officer at JazzCash and an industry veteran with over 24 years of expertise, discussed the structural realities of the Cashless Pakistan initiative and the evolution of fintech in the country in an exclusive interview with Business Recorder.
“Digital financial services began as a wave of disruption, but the next phase is about discipline,” said Aftab, adding that the focus is now shifting from faster digitisation to better design.
This transition is being led by key infrastructures, including Raast, Pakistan’s first instant payment system developed by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), which has been a key pillar behind the rise of the digital economy in Pakistan, says Aftab. The platform is processing over half a billion transactions each quarter and has managed to shift market fundamentals.
“Every new account is a door opening into the formal economy, every Raast transfer is a small act of trust. Pakistanis are beginning to trust technology, and perhaps more importantly, to trust themselves with it.”
The developments come at a time when the government is seeking to leverage digital finance to improve documentation, enhance tax collection, and reduce inefficiencies in cash-based transactions. Last year, the SBP announced plans to digitise all payments by the federal and provincial governments by June 2026, including state-owned enterprises, by December 2026.
In this regard, JazzCash, which remains “deeply embedded” in Prime Minister’s Cashless Pakistan initiative, has already onboarded more that 1 million RAAST QR merchants across the country, which are aligned with the State Bank’s Raast P2M rollout ambition.
“To give you a few examples of the impact we are creating, in Islamabad alone, every third CDA-registered QR merchant is on JazzCash. In Karachi, we turned Bohra Bazaar, located in Saddar, completely cashless and fuel stations across the country are being digitised to accept digital payments through JazzCash,” shared Aftab.
Moreover, the fintech is rampantly digitising the entire payment ecosystems, including government fee collections, utilities, retail, and lifestyle services, while also helping formalise traditionally undocumented segments by providing services, including digital disbursements, working-capital access, and instant settlements to SMEs and micro-businesses.
JazzCash is also serving as a key enabler of Government-to-Person (G2P) payment. “Last year alone, we facilitated approximately Rs100 billion in disbursements,” said Aftab.
The fintech believes that the next chapter in Pakistan’s digital financial ecosystem is about ownership and intelligence. “For too long, full ownership of high-value assets has remained out of reach for most people, whether it’s gold, real estate, or other investments that demand significant upfront capital,” said Aftab.
JazzCash aims to change this by enabling access to digital assets and fractional ownership. “Salaam Investments and our partnership with Ktrade for online stocks is our first step toward that.”
The fintech is also using AI and embedded finance to offer customised money management tools to meet each user’s needs.
“We’ve proven Pakistan can digitise,” said Aftab. “Now we must prove we can dignify.”
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