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KARACHI, Jan 29 (APP):National Assembly Standing Committee on Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety, while reviewing progress on conversion of BISP beneficiary accounts to digital banking channels on Thursday, was informed that all 10 million BISP beneficiaries will start getting their payments through digital Social Protection Wallets from the new fiscal year.
The NA Standing Committee met here with Mir Ghulam Ali Talpur in chair at State Bank of Pakistan to review implementation of banks’ interoperability and issuance of digital wallets for Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) disbursements.
Federal Minister and Chairperson BISP Senator Rubina Khalid, committee members Malik Sohail Khan, Niama Kanwal, Saba Talpur and Arshad Abdullah Vohra, Governor SBP Jameel Ahmed, Secretary Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety Amer Ali Ahmed, representatives of leading financial institutions and officers of BISP attended the meeting.
The Committee was briefed in detail on the transition towards social protection wallet-based disbursements under the Prime Minister’s Cashless Economy Initiative launched in August 2025. Under the initiative over 10 million beneficiary accounts are being brought into the formal financial system through digital wallets, enabling greater financial inclusion and direct interaction with banks for their additional financial needs.
The committee was informed that within a short span of 45 days, 6.7 million SIMs, tagged with digital wallets, have been distributed among the beneficiaries while activation of all fully functional BISP accounts is targeted to be completed during the last quarter of FY26 and from the new financial year all the BISP disbursements will be carried out through Special Protection Wallets.
The Committee was further informed that six banks, including HBL, Bank Alfalah, Bank of Punjab, HBL Microfinance, Easypaisa and Mobilink Bank have agreed to collectively create an ecosystem for BISP beneficiaries by offering fully functional accounts while 1LINK will provide agent-level interoperability through its switching mechanism.
With the introduction of interoperability, beneficiaries will be able to withdraw their payments from different banks, which will significantly reduce dependency on a single service provider and help curb monopolistic practices by branchless banking agents.
The standing committee chairman, Mir Ghulam Ali Talpur termed the conversion of 10 million beneficiaries to digital wallets a remarkable achievement and said that it will not only help ensuring full payment to beneficiaries and address the complaints of undue deductions and accessibility but it will also contribute in promoting financial inclusion and competitiveness in the sector.
Senator Rubina Khalid, at the occasion termed inclusion of 10 million women in the formal banking system as a financial revolution and stated that she had been tasked by the President of Pakistan to ensure that beneficiaries receive their payments with respect and dignity and that no amount is deducted at any stage.
She emphasized on focusing interoperability for ensuring freedom of choice and exploitation-free better services to the beneficiaries and also urged the heads of banking institutions to visit the payment outlets and review the problems being faced by citizens there.
Governor SBP, Jameel Ahmed, expressed his commitment to the major digitization effort and stated that BISP disbursement via banking channels will add over 10 million customers to the banking sector. The step, besides reinforcing the financial inclusion measures and catalyzing the country’s transition towards a digital and cashless economy, will also provide opportunities of availing various banking services to the newly added population, he added.
Deputy Governor SBP Saleemullah Khan briefed the Committee that the State Bank has instructed banks to facilitate cashless disbursements, provide independence to beneficiaries, enable withdrawals across six participating financial institutions, and reduce concentration among limited service providers.
Senior leadership of partner banks shared progress on the initiative, terming it as a huge step forward in the right direction. They assured their fullest cooperation in implementation of a model that reduces cost and security issues and provides full banking services including fund transfer, bill payments and QR Code transactions to a vast underserved and unserved segment of society.