SBP Gives In-Principle and Pilot Operations Approvals to EMIs and PSOs/PSPs 

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has given in-principle approval to Toko Lab Private Limited and Accept Technologies Private Limited (PayMob) for establishing as an Electronic Money Institution (EMI) and Payment System Operator (PSO)/Payment Service Provider (PSP) respectively.   The EMI and PSO/PSP will now develop their infrastructure and readiness within 6 months for applying to SBP for permission to initiate pilot operations. SBP has also granted approval to HubPay Private Limited for initiating pilot operations as an EMI after assessing its readiness to initiate pilot operations.   Now, four (04) EMIs namely NayaPay, Finja, SadaPay and Akhtar Fuiou Technologies are in Commercial Operations, three (03) EMIs namely Wemsol, E-Processing System and HubPay are in pilot Operations, whereas three (03) EMIs namely YAP, Cerisma, and Toko Lab have in-principle approval for establishing their readiness for pilot operations.   As of September 30, 2024, EMIs have opened 4.2 million wallets, issued 4.6 million payment cards and had outstanding E-money deposits of Rs. 5.7 billion.   On a year-on-year basis, the e-money wallets have increased 76.5 percent, cards issuance by 41.4 percent and e-money deposits by 87.5 percent. Further, during the first 3 quarters i.e. Jan to Sep of 2024, a total of 82.1 million payments were made through E-wallets offered by EMIs amounting to PKR 231.9 billion, showing a significant growth of 117 percent and 163 percent respectively as compared to the corresponding period in last year.