Visa intends to increase the number of businesses in Pakistan that accept digital payments by a factor of ten over the course of the next three business years.
Visa’s general manager for Pakistan, North Africa, and the Levant, Leila Serhan, has stated that the following holds true. Visa’s new strategic relationship with 1Link, Pakistan’s leading payment service provider, is designed to improve remittance processes and promote digital transactions in the nation. This announcement corresponds with Visa’s new agreement with 1Link.
It is estimated that Pakistan has one of the greatest populations of people who do not have bank accounts in the world, with 240 million people. There are around 83 million persons in the country who are currently in possession of a bank account, which is just sixty percent of the total population of 137 million adults in the country.
With the goal of making digital transactions more accessible and inexpensive, Visa is investing in the development of digital payment infrastructure.
The number of point-of-sale (POS) machines in Pakistan is currently 120,541. With the goal of achieving a tenfold rise in the number of businesses that accept digital payment methods, Visa intends to significantly boost this number. The point-of-sale (POS) machines in certain firms are several. In a statement, Serhan stated, “We are aiming to tenfold the acceptance of digital transactions among businesses.”
Using technology that enables mobile phones to be used for payments and supporting a variety of payment methods, such as QR codes and card taps, are both components of the company’s expansion plan.
The goal of Visa is to access not only major metropolitan areas and well-known enterprises, but also smaller businesses located all throughout the country. “We’re really looking forward to finishing this technical integration in the coming months, and I think it’s going to be a game changer for a lot of the consumers in Pakistan,” said Serhan in an interview.
With the help of 1Link, the remittance processes are going to be improved, the payment security will be improved, and transactions will be encouraged to take place through official channels. Remittances are an important source of revenue for Pakistan, which is a major beneficiary of these money. Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves and GDP are both dependent on these funds.
The impact of the technical connection with 1Link was something that Serhan expressed hope about, and he anticipated that it would be of substantial benefit to Pakistani consumers. Not only that, but the agreement will make it possible for 1Link’s PayPak cards to be used on Visa’s Cybersource platform for online transactions. This is despite the fact that PayPak is a competitor in the digital payments industry.
In accordance with the recent bailout agreement that Pakistan reached with the International Monetary Fund, which was worth $7 billion, this decision is in line with the changes that are intended to increase revenue and formalize the economy. “Digital payments are going to be at the heart of what the government wants to do from a digitization perspective, and we will continue to partner with them,” Mr. Serhan stated.
