Pakistan’s Financial Inclusion Strategy 2024–28: Five Numbers That Matter

Pakistan’s National Financial Inclusion Strategy (NFIS) 2024–28 sets a broad agenda: expand meaningful access to formal finance, strengthen digital inclusion, support women and priority sectors, and promote responsible financial services.

SBP’s annual progress reporting for CY25 provides useful evidence of how that strategy is moving into implementation. Five indicators are particularly worth watching.

1. More Than 2.1 Million Raast Merchants

The progress report states that more than 2.1 million merchants had been onboarded on Raast, enabling QR-based digital payments. This matters because financial inclusion is not only about owning an account; people also need useful places to transact digitally.

2. Twenty-One Banks Joined Zarkhez-e

The Zarkhez-e Asaan Digital Qarza platform had participation from 21 banks at the reporting point. Multi-bank participation can make digital agricultural-credit infrastructure more relevant across the formal financial system.

3. Around 10,000 Agricultural Vendors and Merchants

The same report says approximately 10,000 vendors and merchants had joined Zarkhez-e. Connecting financing with agricultural value chains can make credit more closely linked to productive activity.

4. More Than 22,000 Farmers Registered

SBP reported 22,339 farmers registered on the digital agricultural lending platform. Registration is an early-stage metric; the more important long-term measures will include completed financing journeys, repeat usage and repayment outcomes.

5. PKR 1.9 Billion in Cases Approved

Cases amounting to PKR 1.9 billion had been approved through Zarkhez-e at the reporting point. This begins to connect digital infrastructure with actual credit activity rather than platform adoption alone.

What These Numbers Do — and Do Not — Tell Us

Headline counts are useful but should not be treated as a complete measure of inclusion. A genuinely inclusive system needs active usage, appropriate products, customer protection, affordability and sustained access to useful financial services.

What to Watch Through 2028

• Active digital-payment usage rather than registrations alone.
• Women’s access and meaningful usage of formal financial services.
• SME and agricultural credit penetration.
• Responsible digital-credit outcomes.
• Customer protection, literacy and trust.

Bankopedia Perspective

Pakistan has increasingly shifted financial inclusion from branch expansion toward infrastructure, interoperability and targeted digital use cases. The next stage should focus on depth: whether these systems improve financial outcomes for people and businesses that have historically been difficult to serve.

Read Bankopedia’s detailed explainer on Zarkhez-e digital agricultural credit.

Frequently Asked Questions

What period does the progress report cover?

The cited SBP annual progress report covers calendar year 2025 under the NFIS 2024–28 programme.

Is account ownership enough to measure inclusion?

No. Meaningful inclusion also involves active usage, appropriate services, affordability, consumer protection and financial capability.

Why is merchant acceptance important?

It gives account and wallet holders more opportunities to use digital money in everyday economic activity.

Sources

Primary source: State Bank of Pakistan, NFIS 2024–28 Annual Progress Report CY25.

Bankopedia.pk — Banking & FinTech Intelligence. Informational analysis only.