Real-time transaction visibility: Centralised merchant database proposed

ISLAMABAD: The government has proposed establishing a centralised database of digital merchants to improve real-time transaction visibility and accelerate Pakistan’s transition towards a cashless economy, as digital transactions surged to 11. 3 billion and the number of active digital merchants surpassed two million over the past year. The proposal was discussed at a high-level review meeting chaired by Minister of State for Finance Bilal Azhar Kayani at the Finance Division on Wednesday to assess progress under Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s Cashless Pakistan Initiative and prepare for its upcoming review. The meeting was attended by senior officials from the Ministry of Finance, State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), NADRA, Capital Development Authority (CDA), Ministry of IT and Telecommunication, and private-sector stakeholders. READ MORE: In-store and online merchants: SBP advises banks, REs to offer digital payment solutions The participants reviewed progress made during the previous year, with annual digital transactions increasing from 6. 9 billion to 11. 3 billion, while active merchants accepting digital payments rose fourfold from around 500, 000 to more than two million. Digital banking users also crossed 135 million. The meeting proposed the centralised merchant database to strengthen monitoring of digital transactions and facilitate wider merchant adoption nationwide. The participants also discussed introducing new analytical indicators in the national Cashless Dashboard to improve real-time monitoring, transparency and performance assessment. The minister directed officials to initiate the process of setting annual performance targets for the Cashless Dashboard for the current fiscal year. The meeting also reviewed progress on digitising government payments by State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) and autonomous bodies, reiterating the objective of fully digitising vendor, employee and pension payments. The government has already made significant progress in digitising government-to-person payments, with around 75 percent of G2P payments being processed digitally at centralised and self-accounting entities, according to an earlier review. Kayani also stated at the recent launch of the Z-Wallet initiative that the government was working to ensure that citizens have at least one digital payment option for every government-to-person transaction, including toll taxes, motor vehicle licence payments and utility bills. The meeting further stressed the need to simplify digital payment user journeys so citizens can make seamless payments across different government and private-sector touchpoints. The participants also discussed strategies to expand merchant adoption and strengthen coordination between regulators, financial institutions, fintech companies and other private-sector stakeholders. Highlighting Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s vision, Kayani reaffirmed the government’s commitment to building a transparent, documented and inclusive economy through digital payments. He said regular reviews would continue to ensure swift implementation of the cashless agenda, improve public convenience and sustain the momentum of Pakistan’s digital financial transformation. Copyright Business Recorder, 2026

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