Karachi (Commerce Desk): Pakistan is expected to soon introduce its first locally developed credit card under a domestic payment scheme, which will be issued by 1LINK, a company providing online banking services to banks and financial institutions.
With this initiative, Pakistan will join a limited group of countries that have their own domestic payment network and credit card system.
Speaking exclusively to Express during the 19th Mobile Commerce Conference in Karachi, 1LINK CEO Najeeb Agrawalla said the credit card is being launched in collaboration with the State Bank of Pakistan and member banks.
He said the introduction of a local credit card will be a major milestone for the country’s banking sector, helping to increase financial inclusion, improve access to credit, and strengthen the domestic payment ecosystem.
According to him, the “PayPak” credit card will be usable nationwide and will also support international transactions, while its operations will be fully managed within Pakistan.
He added that the system will enable banks that previously could not issue credit cards due to high infrastructure costs to now offer the facility, with a flexible model that allows banks to scale investment according to customer demand.