Pakistanis will soon be able to use their own local card payment system PayPak.
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has officially given the go ahead to Onelink for PayPak’s commercial launch, ProPakistani has checked and confirmed.
A senior banker who oversaw this deal told ProPakistani that PayPak was given permission to launch commercially from June 1st, 2017. With this launch, Pakistan will become the 28th country to have its own domestic payment system.
PayPak was soft launched on April 5, 2016 by former governor SBP Ashraf Mahmood Wathra. Since then Paypak has been operating as a pilot project, undergoing testing for operational and other technical issues.
During the last one year, several banking institutions inked an agreement with Paypak for card issuance. According to informed sources:
Currently Paypak has issued more than 300,000 cards to local consumers with the numbers growing every day.
After its commercial launch, Paypay will be aggressively marketed throughout Pakistan.
Onlink to Launch and Integrate PayPak with ATM Services
This payment system will be launched by Onelink which currently provides interoperability of ATM services to major banks in Pakistan. Onelink will use its data and ATM experience to professionally operate the new payment scheme.
Sources told ProPakistani that there are 4 Global Payment Schemes (Visa, Master, Union Pay, and Japan Credit Bureau) providing services to customers in Pakistan right now. These schemes charge a very high fee and their transition costs are also very high. Comparatively, PayPak will work locally in Pakistani Rupees, helping to minimize those transition costs.
PayPak Offers More Security
PayPak cards are chip-based and they are safer than the currently issued strip cards. This will reduce the risk of data scamming and improve service quality.
India, Mexico and Iran have their own domestic payment services with a strong presence in the local market. In Iran, the payment scheme Shetab is very successful. Shetab is operating in correspondence with more than 530,000 merchants in Iran. On the other hand, only 50,000 merchants are available in Pakistan.