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KARACHI, Nov 12 (APP):The Governor State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Jameel Ahmad, highlighting the central bank’s initiatives for improvement of digital payment infrastructure, regulations and security, on Wednesday called upon banks and financial institutions to expand digital payment solutions for bolstering financial inclusion, product innovation, and accessibility.
The digital future is no longer a distant vision but a present reality and regulators, banks, fin-techs, and policymakers- by working together- could build a future where every Pakistani confidently participates in the digital economy, he emphasized while addressing the Future of Banking Summit 2025.
“To remain relevant, financial institutions must evolve rapidly, adopt global standards, and embrace innovation that enhances inclusion, efficiency, and customer trust,” he stressed, noting that the SBP has been leading several initiatives to strengthen the country’s digital financial infrastructure and create an enabling environment for innovation.
He commended Systems Limited for organizing a platform that encourages collaboration between the banking and technology sectors.
He observed that the global financial landscape is undergoing an extraordinary transformation, driven by advancements in artificial intelligence, big data analytics, 5G connectivity, and digital payments. These innovations, he said, are redefining how customers interact with financial institutions and how services are delivered across the economy.
Jameel Ahmad said that the SBP along with other financial services regulators must also evolve to meet the demands of a rapidly changing landscape. He shared that during the past few years, SBP has undertaken a number of initiatives to encourage the adoption of technology across the financial sector.
This includes up-gradation of SBP digital payment infrastructure, both retail and large value, and introducing enabling regulations for digital banks, electronic money and payment institutions.
At the same time, SBP has taken measures to safeguard our financial system from cyber threats and operational vulnerabilities, ensuring that innovation is matched with resilience and trust, he added.
The Governor underscored the importance of the Raast payment system, describing it as the cornerstone of the country’s digital public infrastructure. Raast enables citizens, businesses, and government entities to make secure, real-time transactions at minimal cost, he noted and called upon banks and financial institutions to increase the pace of adoption of Raast and expand digital payment solutions for customers across the public and private sectors.
Jameel Ahmad elaborated that Open Finance (Open Banking) and e-KYC initiatives aim to give customers control over their data, simplify on-boarding, and enable third-party innovation while the SBP was also seeking cross-border payment integration using international standards like ISO 20022 for faster, safer remittances and trade-related transactions.
Emphasizing on building trust and cyber-security in digital finance with strong regulations, fraud prevention, and customer protection measures, he informed that SBP was in the advanced stages of establishing an innovation hub as it has launched the first cohort of its Regulatory Sandbox to test new ideas in areas such as inward remittances, open banking, and merchant on-boarding.