KARACHI: Meezan Bank Ltd is accelerating its push into digital payments, expanding its merchant network and rolling out instant payment solutions as Pakistan’s shift towards a cashless economy gathers pace.
The bank’s merchant base has surpassed 50,000, with monthly transaction volumes averaging around Rs50 billion, according to industry estimates. It is now targeting the addition of more than 140,000 merchants while expanding Raast acceptance across over 40,000 point-of-sale terminals.
The country’s heavy reliance on cash continues to weigh on tax collection and access to finance, with SMEs contributing about 40 per cent of GDP but receiving less than 10 per cent of bank credit. Cash handling is also estimated to cost up to 1.5 per cent of GDP.
Meezan is investing in point-of-sale terminals, QR-based payments and e-commerce solutions, alongside integration with the central bank’s Raast system to enable low-cost, real-time transactions.
