Editing Economy of Pakistan (section)

==== Finance ====
{{Main|Banking in Pakistan|Insurance in Pakistan}}

Pakistan has a large and diverse banking system. In 1974, a nationalization programme led to the creation of six government-owned banks.<ref name="tribune.com.pk">{{cite web |title= History of banking in Pakistan – of humble origins and vast potential|date=4 November 2011 |url=https://tribune.com.pk/story/286458/history-of-banking-in-pakistan--of-humble-origins-and-vast-potential/ |access-date=23 October 2018}}</ref> A privatization programme in the 1990s led to the entry of foreign-owned and local banks into the industry.<ref name="tribune.com.pk" /> As of 2010, there were five publicly-owned commercial banks in Pakistan, as well as 25 domestic private banks, six multinational banks, and four specialised banks.<ref name="tribune.com.pk" />

[[File:Karachi Chundrigar skyline.jpg|thumb|A part of [[I. I. Chundrigar Road|Downtown Karachi]], Showing the [[MCB Tower]] and [[Habib Bank Plaza]]. The headquarters of many banks in Pakistan can be found here.]]

Since 2000, Pakistani banks have begun aggressive marketing of consumer finance to the emerging middle class, allowing for a consumption boom (more than a seven-month waiting list for certain car models) as well as a construction bonanza. Pakistan's banking sector remained remarkably strong and resilient during the [[2008 financial crisis]], a feature which has served to attract a substantial amount of FDI in the sector. Stress tests conducted in June 2008 data indicate that the large banks are relatively robust, with the medium and small-sized banks positioning themselves in niche markets.

The [[Pakistan Bureau of Statistics]] provisionally valued this sector at Rs.807,807 million in 2012, thus registering over 510% growth since 2000.<ref name="ReferenceC">{{Cite web |title=Gross National Product of Pakistan (at current factor cost) |url=https://www.pbs.gov.pk/sites/default/files/national_accounts/tables/table4.pdf |access-date=16 September 2023 |website=pbs.gov.pk}}</ref>

An article published in the ''Journal of the Asia Pacific Economy'' by Mete Feridun of the University of Greenwich in London with his Pakistani colleague Abdul Jalil presents strong econometric evidence that financial development fosters economic growth in Pakistan.<ref>Jalil, Abdul and Feridun, Mete (2011) Impact of financial development on economic growth: empirical evidence from Pakistan. Journal of the Asia Pacific Economy, 16 (1). pp. 71–80. ISSN 1354-7860 (print), 1469-9648 (online) (doi:10.1080/13547860.2011.539403)</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
|+Financial statements of major banks 2023 (billion PKR)<ref>{{cite web |title=Financial Statement Analysis of Financial Sector |url=https://www.sbp.org.pk/reports/annual/FSAFS/2023-Annual/Complete.pdf |access-date=2024-09-17 |website=SBP}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Consolidated Financial Statements of SBP |url=https://www.sbp.org.pk/reports/annual/aarFY24/AFS-2023-24.pdf |access-date=2024-09-17 |website=SBP}}</ref>
!Bank
![[Total assets]]
!Revenue
!Profit after tax
|-
|[[State Bank of Pakistan]]
|19,687
|1,218
|1,143.0
|-
|[[Habib Bank Ltd]]
|5,202
|277
|56.9
|-
|[[Meezan Bank]]
|3,012
|249
|84.5
|-
|[[National Bank of Pakistan]]
|6,653
|209
|51.8
|-
|[[MCB Bank|MCB BANK LTD.]]
|2,427
|181
|59.6
|-
|[[United Bank Limited]]
|5,575
|166
|53.2
|-
|[[Bank Alfalah]]
|3,346
|154
|36.5
|-
|[[Bank AL Habib]]
|2,741
|147
|35.3
|-
|[[Allied Bank Limited]]
|2,329
|138
|40.7
|-
|[[Standard Chartered Bank (Pakistan)|Standard Chartered Bank Ltd.]]
|1,002
|107
|42.6
|-
|[[HabibMetro]]
|1,556
|87
|24.4
|}

In recent years, banking through digital channels has been gaining popularity in the country. These channels offer alternatives resulting in faster delivery of financial services to a wide range of customers. Significant progress has been observed in the usage of internet banking and mobile banking channels during the last few years. In the last five years,{{when|date=March 2025}} internet banking transactions saw compound annualised growth of 31%, whereas mobile banking transactions grew by 86%.

{| class="wikitable"
|+'''Payment system infrastructure'''<ref name=":9">{{cite web |title=Payment Systems Yearly Review |url=https://www.sbp.org.pk/PS/PDF/FiscalYear-2023-24.pdf |access-date=28 September 2023 |website=SBP}}</ref>
|-
!
!FY 2020
!FY 2021
!FY 2022
!FY 2023
!FY 2024
|-
|Commercial banks + MFBs
|44
|44
|44
|44
|45
|-
|Bank branches
|16,067
|16,308
|17,031
|17,693
|18,450
|-
|Total number of ATMs
|15,612
|16,355
|17,133
|17,808
|18,957
|-
|Internet banking users (000)
|3,983
|5,239
|8,370
|9,637
|11,996
|-
|Mobile phone banking users (000)
|8,452
|10,873
|12,339
|16,061
|18,678
|-
|POS machines
|49,067
|71,907
|104,865
|115,288
|125,593
|-
|Credit cards (million)
|1.66
|1.72
|1.80
|2.01
|2.04
|-
|Debit cards (million)
|26.7
|29.8
|34.6
|39.0
|48.3
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|+Payment system statistics<ref name=":9" />
|-
! colspan="2" |
!FY 2020
!FY 2021
!FY 2022
!FY 2023
!FY 2024
|-
! rowspan="2" |PRISM system* 
|Transactions (millions)
|2.6
|{{increase}}4.2
|{{increase}}4.4
|{{increase}}4.9
|{{increase}}5.8
|-
|Amount (trillion PKR)
|394.3
|{{increase}}444.6
|{{increase}}681.6
|{{decrease}}640.4
|{{increase}}1,043.1
|-
! rowspan="2" |Paper based 
|Transactions (millions)
|598.4
|{{decrease}}582.3
|{{increase}}599.1
|{{decrease}}574.2
|{{decrease}}571.2
|-
|Amount (trillion PKR)
|185.6
|{{increase}}218.9
|{{increase}}295.7
|{{increase}}342.7
|{{increase}}447.7
|-
! rowspan="2" |Mobile banking
|Transactions (millions)
|82.8
|{{increase}}193.4
|{{increase}}387.5
|{{increase}}660.6
|{{increase}}1,122.8
|-
|Amount (trillion PKR)
|1.8
|{{increase}}4.9
|{{increase}}11.8
|{{increase}}23.8
|{{increase}}46.3
|-
! rowspan="2" |E-commerce
|Transactions (millions)
|10.2
|{{increase}}21.9
|{{increase}}45.5
|{{decrease}}31.8
|{{increase}}39.9
|-
|Amount (billion PKR)
|34.9
|{{increase}}60.6
|{{increase}}106.0
|{{increase}}142.0
|{{increase}}194.3
|}
<nowiki>*</nowiki> [[Real-time gross settlement]] (RTGS) mechanism in Pakistan is named the Pakistan Real-time Interbank Settlement Mechanism (PRISM).