Payment systems widen in first quarter

SBP report says ATM transactions rise 5 per cent.

KARACHI:
The scope of payment systems infrastructure widened in the first quarter (July-September) of the current fiscal year as 99 automated teller machines (ATMs) were added to the e-banking infrastructure bringing the total number of ATMs to 4,562 in the country.

According to the State Bank’s First Quarterly Report on Payments Systems released on Tuesday, 60 more bank branches have been upgraded to become real-time online branches while the number of plastic cards - ATM, debit and credit cards - increased by 5.23 per cent compared to the previous quarter.

The report said the value of ATM transactions increased by about five per cent to Rs262,524 million. Though the number of transactions remained at the level of previous (April-June) quarter, average value per transaction increased to Rs8,486 compared to Rs8,037 in the previous quarter.

It said the contribution of other modes of e-banking is also on the rise despite comparatively insignificant numbers and aggregate value and added that utility bill payments through available modes (ATMs, internet, mobiles, etc) of e-banking are also growing.

According to the report, the number of cross-border transactions increased by 154 per cent in volume and 19 per cent in value during the quarter under review. Large value payments settled through Pakistan Real-time Interbank Settlement Mechanism (PRISM), however, decreased by 6.51 per cent in volume and 11.35 per cent in value in comparison to the previous quarter.


The major portion of PRISM transactions, in terms of value, consisted of securities settlements which accounted for 47 per cent of the total transactions followed by interbank funds transfers (37 per cent) and settlement of retail cheques clearing (16 per cent), the report added.

The volume and value of paper-based retail payments during the quarter under review were 82.959 million and Rs35.60 trillion, showing a decrease of 9.44 per cent in number of transactions and 12.18 per cent in value of transactions compared to the previous quarter. The contribution of paper-based payments to total retail payment transactions was 61.20 per cent in terms of volume and 88.45 per cent in terms of value.

It also pointed out that the volume and value of e-banking transactions during the quarter reached 52.58 million and Rs4.7 trillion respectively. Their contribution to total retail payment transactions was 38.8 per cent in terms of volume and 11.55 per cent in terms of value, the report added.

“Safe, efficient and reliable payment systems are vital part and backbone of financial infrastructure of a country which provide the essential base for financial stability. The primary goal of a payment system is to enable fast and risk-free circulation of money in the economy, an essential prerequisite for satisfying timely payment obligations and improving liquidity in the financial markets,” the State Bank commented in the report.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 29th, 2010.
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