JazzCash targets 2m interoperable QR payments by year-end

KARACHI: Pakistan’s shift towards digital payments is accelerating, with JazzCash’s interoperable Raast QR-enabled merchants rising to 1.9 million from fewer than one million at the start of 2026, as the company targets two million by year-end.

Murtaza Ali, CEO of JazzCash, has said that the rapid expansion comes as Pakistan pushes to reduce its reliance on cash and bring more economic activity into the formal economy under the Prime Minister’s Cashless Economy Initiative, supported by the State Bank of Pakistan’s (SBP) Raast instant payment infrastructure.

Therefore, Pakistan’s shift from cash to digital payments is gaining momentum among small merchants and micro-entrepreneurs, with interoperable QR payments emerging as a key driver of adoption.

Murtaza recently participated in a panel discussion titled “Merchant Adoption of Digital Payments,” at the International Association of Money Transfer Networks (IAMTN) Annual Summit 2026, alongside Ainsley Merchant of Worldpay and Georges Ferre of IYU. The discussion was moderated by Roberto Linares of Remitly. During the discussion, Murtaza highlighted the growth of digital payments in Pakistan and outlined key initiatives taken by the government and the SBP to promote digital payment adoption.

He said that small businesses account for a large share of Pakistan’s retail economy, while many have traditionally operated outside card and formal digital payment networks and wider QR acceptance could help change that by giving merchants a low-cost way to accept digital payments without investing in conventional point-of-sale terminals.

“Small, thin-margin merchants weigh any upfront cost carefully, and trust comes down to when settlement lands,” Murtaza added.

He said QR payments had helped address the cost barrier associated with hardware-based acceptance, allowing smaller businesses such as corner shops, salons and home-based businesses to participate in digital payments.

Murtaza said financial services were likely to become increasingly conversational, with customers interacting with financial applications through AI rather than navigating multiple screens. Such services could eventually provide personalised assistance across payments, savings, investments and credit.

He cautioned, however, that trust and security would be critical as AI becomes more deeply embedded in financial services. “The more AI we bring in, the more robust our security has to be,” he said, adding that customer data would also need to remain sovereign.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2026