E-payment growth

A sharp rise has been registered in Pakistan’s e-banking during the first quarter of the ongoing fiscal year, following a push it received in the wake of the Covid-19 lockdowns. E-banking transaction saw a 16% rise from Rs23.3 trillion to Rs27.2 trillion. This indicates that even as the pandemic seems to have ebbed away for the time being, online transactions have continued to gain precedence. Moreover, we are also seeing the rise of e-finance and e-money companies with NayaPay recently secured $13 million as investment.

With citizens being more and more reliant on a virtual hassle-free way of handling money — especially in the wake of a surge in crime rates — this will indeed help in mainstreaming digital payment systems across the country and bolster PTI’s vision of a digital future. From an economic perspective, some major benefits of this are: it can help secure large investment through start-ups; generate revenue through services; encourage international investors and companies to join or collaborate with the Pakistani market. A major factor that has significantly increased the gap between the First World and developing countries is their ability to hone digital technologies. In this regard Pakistan is still light-years behind. In order to organically develop and bring about a digital transition, internet, technology and services must be made affordable and readily available to small-scale businesses, shops and retailers so that it spreads exponentially across the country. Officials need to ascertain what percentage of transactions have the lower- and lower-middle class made in order to better analyse this growth and act accordingly to enhance it even more.

But we must also remain vigilant, as with increasing reliance on technology, there is a very real threat of the cybercrime rate rising. For this a strong security database needs to be developed in order to protect the assets of the public and the government. A cautious step forward needs to be taken in which infrastructure and security development should to be the primary focus.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 10^th, 2022.

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