Meezan Bank: Pakistan’s First Islamic Payment Gateway

Meezan Bank will launch Pakistan’s first Islamic payment gateway and point of sale (PoS) system this year, as the bank aims to provide Shariah-based digital transaction systems and solutions to merchants and consumers across the country.

The bank is working to develop online payment solutions for e-commerce stores and PoS terminal installations based primarily on shopping centers, restaurants, and other retailers of goods and services to provide its customers with debit and credit. To provide cashless payment option as per Shariah.

Bank of Pakistan launches e-commerce payment gateway and e-commerce payment initiatives to meet the needs of a large majority of retailers and online businesses seeking rapid growth in digital payments and Shariah compliant solutions Ready to do.
The use of payment cards in Pakistan has been on the rise for the past few years, as consumers prefer to use the cashless payment option to prevent coveted 19 epidemics.

According to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), more than 3,000 e-commerce merchants are registered in various banks, compared to 72,000 POS machines nationwide by the end of the current financial year.

Transactions through e-commerce increased to Rs. 60 billion and POS processed transactions are worth more than Rs. 453 billion in the financial year 2020-21.

Some of the e-commerce and PoS operators in Pakistan are Habib Bank Limited, United Bank Limited, MCB Bank, Easypaisa, JazzCash, Keenue, Fonepay, Payoneer, Payfast, NIFTepay.

With the growing trend of digital payment solutions, the introduction of Shariah-compliant alternatives will be a catalyst for the digitization of payment systems in the country as honest merchants would prefer to adopt different e-commerce and retail stores instead of the traditional banking system.

Merchants can deposit their money directly in Islamic banks through the launch of e-commerce and POS system.