AIRLINK 62.48 Increased By ▲ 2.05 (3.39%)
BOP 5.36 Increased By ▲ 0.01 (0.19%)
CNERGY 4.58 Decreased By ▼ -0.02 (-0.43%)
DFML 15.50 Increased By ▲ 0.66 (4.45%)
DGKC 66.40 Increased By ▲ 1.60 (2.47%)
FCCL 17.59 Increased By ▲ 0.73 (4.33%)
FFBL 27.70 Increased By ▲ 2.95 (11.92%)
FFL 9.27 Increased By ▲ 0.21 (2.32%)
GGL 10.06 Increased By ▲ 0.10 (1%)
HBL 105.70 Increased By ▲ 1.49 (1.43%)
HUBC 122.30 Increased By ▲ 4.78 (4.07%)
HUMNL 6.60 Increased By ▲ 0.06 (0.92%)
KEL 4.50 Decreased By ▼ -0.05 (-1.1%)
KOSM 4.48 Decreased By ▼ -0.09 (-1.97%)
MLCF 36.20 Increased By ▲ 0.79 (2.23%)
OGDC 122.92 Increased By ▲ 0.53 (0.43%)
PAEL 23.00 Increased By ▲ 1.09 (4.97%)
PIAA 29.34 Increased By ▲ 2.05 (7.51%)
PIBTL 5.80 Decreased By ▼ -0.14 (-2.36%)
PPL 107.50 Increased By ▲ 0.13 (0.12%)
PRL 27.25 Increased By ▲ 0.74 (2.79%)
PTC 18.07 Increased By ▲ 1.97 (12.24%)
SEARL 53.00 Decreased By ▼ -0.63 (-1.17%)
SNGP 63.21 Increased By ▲ 2.01 (3.28%)
SSGC 10.80 Increased By ▲ 0.05 (0.47%)
TELE 9.20 Increased By ▲ 0.71 (8.36%)
TPLP 11.44 Increased By ▲ 0.86 (8.13%)
TRG 70.86 Increased By ▲ 0.95 (1.36%)
UNITY 23.62 Increased By ▲ 0.11 (0.47%)
WTL 1.28 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
BR100 6,944 Increased By 65.8 (0.96%)
BR30 22,827 Increased By 258.6 (1.15%)
KSE100 67,142 Increased By 594.3 (0.89%)
KSE30 22,090 Increased By 175.1 (0.8%)
Business & Finance

SBP announces digital cheques clearing, unified QR code for payments initiatives

  • Steps aimed at increasing usage of digital financial products and services, says central bank
Published August 4, 2021

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has announced two new initiatives to facilitate the introduction of digital financial products and services by financial institutions, including a facilities for digital cheques clearing, and a unified QR code for payments.

The developments were shared at the 5th stakeholders meeting on Digital Financial Services, which was attended by various stakeholders, said the SBP in a statement issued on Wednesday.

SBP Governor Dr Reza Baqir said that the central bank is actively exploring the development of Open Banking, which allows sharing and leveraging of customer-permitted information among financial institutions to facilitate consumer choice, promote competition and efficiency in the financial sector, and encourage the introduction of innovative products and services.

E-banking transactions increase 31% year-on-year during Jan-Mar: SBP

The initiatives are targeted towards the overarching objective of accelerating digitalisation and financial inclusion. The central bank said that the digital cheque clearing initiative will replace physical presentation and clearing of cheques, reducing the time involved.

The second initiative, the introduction of a unified QR code, will allow payments by users from any digital application eliminating the need to use separate apps. Baqir said that the SBP will continue to promote innovative digital financial services and is ready to facilitate these endeavours by resolving issues as far as possible.

RAAST: the digital pathway towards financial inclusion

Briefing the participants on the progress made on SBP’s Raast payment platform, Baqir said that the second phase of person-to-person payments would be launched by October 2021 for which banks are being integrated with Raast.

During the meeting, SBP and Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) announced the formation of a SBP-PTA joint taskforce to work towards the prevention of frauds in digital financial services. In addition, the SBP and FBR have also agreed to form a joint committee to collaborate on a regular basis to increase digitisation in the economy.

Comments

Comments are closed.

samir sardana Aug 05, 2021 12:38am
And so,the time has come for a Pakistani Digital Currency. There will be a large number of people in Pakistan,who spend legally,and have no qualms,in paying indirect and direct taxes.This market will embrace the Digital PKR The Digital PKR will bypass online banking,and crash the marketing costs of Pakistani companies,as online trade,will exponentially increase. It will also provide valuable Data Analytics to SBP,as the trail and route of each Digital PKR,will be known and traced.It will also drastically lower the load of banking infrastructure and retail banking. The Digital PKR will also solve the problem of remittances by overseas Pakistanis and the issues with BTC price volatility.
thumb_up Recommended (0)
samir sardana Aug 05, 2021 12:37pm
A Pakistani Digital Currency will also wipe out the Counterfeit PKR,floating in Pakistan,which is HOARDED in cash * never hits the banks - and so,is never detected,and is a GIGANTIC FRAUD,on the Poor and Agri and Urban labourers (who are paid in these notes) Besides,INCENTIVES TO SPEND THE DIGITAL PKR,will also stimulate and direct consumption,into the right sectors, & ROTATE MONEY,INSTEAD OF HOARDING CASH OR BUYING USD OR GOLD ! An incentive to spend a digital PKR,in terns of price or deferred payments,will save costs to the buyer, Increase NSR to the manufacturer & also BOOST VAT to the state ! It is a WIN-WIN-WIN ! On Top of that,the Billions of USD wasted in Banking infra,and the power cost to run that infra, will be saved - FOREVER ! The Massive e-trail of the Digital PKR will also reduce the Tax Admin & Int Costs. In essence,every Cell phone & Digital PKR owner,will become a MICRO BANKER,w/o a branch or an ATM or a Note Counting Machine or a Counterfeit checker or a HQ !
thumb_up Recommended (0)
samir sardana Aug 05, 2021 12:37pm
In the Final Leg,if an informal float of the Digital PKR,is done with some ADs in East Asia,then the hawala racket in the PKR will END - as all recipients of the Digital PKR will be tracked - and there will always be a cross rate,of the Digital PKR - with the USD and the Yuan ! If Hawala ends then the Import Smuggling will also end ! Once the Digital PKR hits the EXIM chain - then the banks will exit the EXIM chain - as they will become obsolete !
thumb_up Recommended (0)
samir sardana Aug 05, 2021 08:22pm
The Digi PKR is in the long term interest of Pakistani Banks.The Mafia Raj of Banks is OBSOLETE.The days of ripping off retail in bank charges,Non maintenance charges,interest,debits,ATM charges,Debit card charges,bank statements,not paying interest on savings accounts,cheque books,going to banks for wires,is a gone. Banks have to FOCUS ON CREDIT ! That is their core and only function.When they fail in that function,they start ripping off the hapless retai account holder. If there are 100 million retail accounts in Pakistan,it is safe to say that Pakistani banks are ripping off,at least 35-50 USD per annum per person, in explicit and implicit costs.That is 3.5 - 5 Billion USD ! Banks will also save Billions in Banking Infra,and Bank IT software costs,which on a lifecycle costing - will be in the billions of dollars. If Banks FOCUS only on CREDIT - the NPAs and Bank Frauds,will also reduce - and all this,is due to the Digi PKR.dindooohindoo \
thumb_up Recommended (0)