Cashless Pakistan initiative recorded more than 2 million active digital payment merchants in its first year, the Ministry of Finance said after a review meeting.
Annual digital transactions rose from 6.9 billion to 11.3 billion, according to the ministry statement. Digital banking users also increased to more than 135 million.
Minister of State for Finance and Railways Bilal Azhar Kayani chaired the high-level meeting to review progress on the program.
The federal government launched the Cashless Pakistan initiative in June 2025 under the supervision of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
The ministry said the Raast QR Code initiative helped increase the number of active digital payment merchants from around 0.5 million to more than 2 million.
Kayani said financial inclusion had reached 69%. He added that targeted measures continued to reduce the gender gap.
The program has three pillars: public convenience, transparency and formal documentation of the economy through digital payments.
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Three sub-committees oversee implementation. The State Bank of Pakistan governor leads digital payments innovation and adoption. The minister for IT and telecom leads digital public infrastructure.
The finance secretary leads the digitisation of government payments. Kayani also reviewed work on 25 high-impact federal and provincial entities targeted for complete digitisation through Raast by December 2026.
The ministry said centralised and self-accounting entities now accept about 75% of government-to-people payments digitally.
Kayani said the government would work with regulators, financial institutions, fintech companies and the private sector to expand digital payments. He said a third party had begun assessments to validate progress and remove reporting gaps.
