Visa aims to increase digital payment acceptance tenfold across Pakistan

KARACHI:

Visa plans to tenfold the number of businesses accepting digital payments in Pakistan over the next three years, the payments giant’s managing director for Pakistan, North Africa and the Levant told Reuters.

Leila Serhan’s comments came as Visa announced a strategic partnership with 1Link, Pakistan’s largest payment service provider, aimed at streamlining remittances in the South Asian country and encouraging digital transactions.

Pakistan, with a population of 240 million, is home to one of the largest unbanked populations in the world. Only 60% of the population of 137 million adults, or 83 million adults, have a bank account, according to central bank estimates.

Visa is investing in building digital payments infrastructure in the country, aiming to make digital payments less expensive and more manageable.

Pakistan currently has 120,541 point-of-sale (POS) machines, according to central bank data.

Visa intends to increase this number significantly. “Some businesses have more than one POS machine. We are aiming for tenfold acceptance (of digital transactions) by businesses,” said Serhan.

The strategy includes technology that turns phones into means of payment and accepts various forms of payment, including QR and card. Visa aims to expand beyond major cities and mainstream businesses to include smaller merchants.

The 1Link agreement aims to improve the process of sending and receiving remittances, including enhancing the security of payments by enhancing such transactions through legal channels.

As one of the world’s leading recipients of remittances, Pakistan relies heavily on remittances from overseas Pakistanis, which are a vital source of foreign exchange and contribute significantly to the country’s GDP.

“We are really looking forward to completing this technical integration in the coming months and I think it will be a game changer for many consumers in Pakistan,” said Serhan.

The partnership with 1Link will also allow 1Link’s PayPak cards to be accepted on Visa’s Cybersource platform for online transactions, despite PayPak being a competitor in digital payments.

Pakistan signed a $7 billion bailout deal with the International Monetary Fund in July, which includes reforms such as raising revenue and documenting the economy.

“Digital payments will be at the heart of what the government wants to do in terms of digitization and we will continue to work with them,” Serhan said.