Branchless banking shows impressive growth: SBP

Accounts increase by 50% and deposits rise to Rs187m.

KARACHI: Branchless banking in Pakistan has shown an impressive growth in the first quarter of the current fiscal year as more and more people from the poor and low-income group are opting for the facility, according to State Bank of Pakistan’s (SBP) publication “Branchless banking news” released on Thursday.

This publication for July-September quarter is the country’s first document on branchless banking, which will now be published every quarter.

According to the publication, branchless banking is expected to be a game-changer in improving access for unbanked population to financial services. Total number of active branchless banking agents reached 17,448 in a short span of two years while the number of branches of all commercial banks are around 10,000.

Active branchless banking accounts increased by 51.23 per cent to 357,598, deposits by increased by 28.03 per cent to Rs187 million, the number of transactions rose 26.93 per cent to 15.867 million and volume of transactions showed a 43.2 per cent increase to Rs58,710 million during the quarter.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 21^st, 2011.