E-banking transactions grow

During Oct-Dec 2013, substantial increase recorded in value and volume.

KARACHI: The volume and value of e-banking transactions in Pakistan during October-December 2013 grew on a quarterly basis by 5.1% and 8.7%, respectively, according to the State Bank of Pakistan’s (SBP) Payment Systems Review released on Friday.

The increase in volume and value was 22.7% and 10%, respectively, compared with the same period last year.

During the quarter under review, Pakistan Real-Time Interbank Settlement Mechanism (PRISM), which is the large value payment system of the country, processed 141,667 payments worth over Rs35 trillion.  This showed an increase of 8.2% and 15% in volume and value, respectively, compared to the previous quarter.

In the composition of total e-banking transactions, ATM has the highest share of 63.3% in volume and 7.6% share in value of transactions. Real-time online banking (RTOB) has the highest share of 89.9% in value with 25.2% share in volume of transactions. The remaining portion of transactions in terms of volume is captured by point of sale (5.9%), internet (4%), call centre (0.2%) and mobile banking (1.5%), respectively.

The number of transactions through ATMs reached over 61.7 million in the second quarter of 2013-14. The number of ATMs in the country reached 7,684 for the quarter ended December, 2013, showing an increase of 10.2% from the previous quarter.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 12^th, 2014.

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