Pakistan

28% of people in Pakistan use the internet.

21% of adults in Pakistan had bank accounts in 2021, leaving 79% unbanked.

Pakistan’s focus on Open Banking has been limited to mobile-banking, mobile and digital wallets, with the proposal that the data in the accounts here will be open to being shared when Open Banking arrives, although no date or framework for this has been outlined. The State Bank of Pakistan has been overseeing the digital financial infrastructure changes. In 2021 it ruled that banks had to hold a set of minimum services via their internet banking and mobile banking channels in an attempt to push towards a more complete digital ecosystem, as well as removing fees for online usage .

Also, in 2021, Raast, Pakistan’s first instant payments system was launched, with Person-To-Person (P2P) payments a feature.

Pakistan ranked 94th out of 134 countries in Wiley’s Digital Skills Global Index 2021.