Pakistan to soon introduce first local scheme credit card

Pakistan will soon introduce its first local scheme credit card. OneLink, which provides online banking services to banks and financial institutions, will introduce this credit card under the Pak scheme.

In this way, Pakistan will join the few countries that have their own payment scheme and credit card facility.

Speaking exclusively to Express at the 19th Mobile Commerce Conference held in Karachi, OneLink Chief Executive Najeeb Agrawala said that OneLink will issue this credit card in collaboration with the State Bank and member banks.

He said that the local credit card project can bring a big change in Pakistan’s banking sector. Which will include more and more people in the financial system, availability of credit and further strengthen the payment system developed within the country.

He said that the PayPak credit card will be usable throughout Pakistan and users will also be able to make foreign payments and all its arrangements will be made within the country. Even banks that were not providing these services to their customers due to expensive infrastructure will be able to issue credit cards. It has a flexible payment system, meaning that banks will not have to make a huge investment initially, but will be able to spend on it according to the needs and usage of their customers.

Najeeb Agrawala said that One Link had introduced the PAK scheme in the year 2016 itself. Thus, Pakistan became the 28th country in the world to introduce its local payment scheme PayPak. Seeing the success of PayPak in Pakistan, other countries have also started local payment systems.

He said that through PayPak, safe, reliable and low-cost payment facilities are being continuously provided to the customers. Currently, the use of PayPak debit cards is continuously increasing in various sectors including government payments, shopping at shops, online shopping and retail stores.

Najeeb Agrawala said that since its inception, PayPak has not been limited to just one card but has introduced different types of cards, which are designed keeping in mind the diverse needs of Pakistani consumers. These include special facilities for cardholders and their families, weekly discounts on online purchases, and cards that can be used in Pakistan as well as abroad.

The OneLink CEO said that PayPak currently holds a 28% share of the Pakistani card market and has more than 16.1 million cards in use, reflecting continuous growth and growing consumer confidence over the past 10 years.