Dear Google Wallet, welcome to Digital Pakistan

Over the past year, the following two milestones have been crossed: Pakistanis conducted a higher value of transactions from their bank’s mobile and web apps than they withdrew in cash from ATMs, and the majority of utility bills in the country are now paid online.

Digital Pakistan is here, and despite most people assuming that Pakistanis like dealing in cash, the fact remains that electronic payments now account for 9.3% of the total value of all transactions that take place in the country, a number that has doubled over the past two years. That estimate is based on Profit’s analysis of data published by the State Bank of Pakistan.

While cash remains king in Pakistan - with nearly 36% of all transactions in the country taking place in physical cash between two parties where neither uses their bank account - digital payments are by far the fastest growing segment.

It appears that global tech powerhouses are beginning to take notice. 

A week ago some internal documents from Google were leaked, which instigated conjectures of Google Wallet’s entry in Pakistan. Although there has been no formal announcement from Google, the notion that it is set to launch in Pakistan by early 2025 is widespread. In this story, Profit tries to reimagine the digital payments space in Pakistan after the debut of Google Wallet.