The value of e-banking transactions rose 19 per cent to Rs12 trillion in the second half (January-June) of financial year 2010-11 as compared to the first half, says State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) in its Payment Systems Half-Yearly Review released on Wednesday.
In terms of volume, e-banking transactions grew 15.5 per cent to 125.9 million during the six-month period against the first half of financial year 2011.
According to the review, the Automated Teller Machines (ATMs), the largest channel of e-banking transactions, recorded 16.5 per cent increase in transactions and 19 per cent increase in value, taking the share of ATM in e-banking to 58.8 per cent and 5.4 per cent respectively.
Real-Time Online Branches’ transactions grew 14.7 per cent and their value rose 18.8 per cent compared to the first half of financial year 2011. “These transactions contributed 31.6 per cent to total volume of e-banking and 93.2 per cent to the value,” said the review.
During the half year, 466 ATMs were added to the system, taking the total to 5,200 across the country while 380 more bank branches were converted into Real Time Online Branches. “A total of 7,416 bank branches (78%) are now offering real-time online banking, out of a total of 9,541 in the country.”
The number of plastic cards at 14 million also registered an increase of 6.2 per cent during the period under review.
Large-value payments settled through Pakistan Real-time Interbank Settlement Mechanism (PRISM) also recorded an increase as they rose 14.8 per cent in volume and 21.9 per cent in value.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 29th, 2011.
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ