Pakistan’s shift away from cash isn’t happening evenly, and it isn’t happening for one single reason either. Some industries adopted digital payments because regulators forced their hand. Others had no cash option to begin with. A few are still stuck making phone calls to confirm a booking. Here’s what’s actually driving the fastest-moving sectors, based on recent government orders, regulator data, and export figures.

Utility Companies Turned Bills Into Payment Terminals

Gas and electricity providers made one of the quietest but most effective moves toward cashless collections. SSGC and SNGPL now print Raast QR codes directly on gas bills sent to 10.74 million customers. Ten of Pakistan’s eleven electricity distribution companies have done the same for a combined base of 35 million consumers.

The trick wasn’t an app or a campaign. It was putting the QR code exactly where the customer already looks: the bill itself. That single design choice turned two of the country’s most cash-heavy recurring payments into scan-and-pay transactions, without asking a single household to change how they pay their bills otherwise.

Government ID Services Moved Faster Than Almost Anyone Expected

NADRA’s shift is the clearest case of a public institution engineering its own cashless transition. Cashless transactions at NADRA service centres rose from 66% to 76% within months, once Raast QR payments went live at 949 centres and inside the PAK ID app, which already has 10.7 million users.

This wasn’t optional for citizens. Renewing a CNIC or applying for a family registration certificate now defaults to a QR-based payment flow. When a government service redesigns its own counter experience, adoption doesn’t need convincing. It just needs to be the only smooth path available.

Retail Went Digital Because the Law Told It To

Retail’s cashless numbers often get credited to consumer demand, but the real accelerant was regulatory. On January 25, 2026, the federal government ordered every retailer nationwide, including all of Islamabad and every province, to provide a QR code payment option. A parallel legal package is amending the Payment Systems and Electronic Fund Transfers Act, 2007, to make at least one digital payment method mandatory by law, with local authorities empowered to enforce it.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa went further. Its draft Digital Payment Bill 2026 extends the same requirement to clinics, hospitals, and schools, with penalties for non-compliance and a two-year tax exemption for businesses that register early. Retail didn’t lead this shift. It complied with it, and merchants who set up QR merchant accounts or payment links early are the ones avoiding penalties now instead of scrambling later.

Freelancers and IT Exporters Never Had a Cash Option

This sector’s cashless story looks nothing like the others, because cash was never realistically part of it. Pakistani freelancers earned a record $1.76 billion in FY2025-26, up 78% year-on-year, and IT exports overall hit $4.6 billion. Freelancers alone account for roughly one in every four export dollars.

None of that money could move as cash even if someone wanted it to. A client in Berlin or Toronto pays through a payment gateway, a wire transfer, or a formal banking channel, full stop. PayPal still doesn’t operate in Pakistan due to SBP foreign exchange rules, which pushed this entire workforce toward bank-linked digital rails years before retail caught up. For a B2B payment gateway like AssanPay, this sector represents merchants who were digital-first by necessity, not by choice.

Where Cash Still Wins

A few sectors remain stubbornly cash-first, and not from lack of awareness.

• Healthcare: Despite the KP bill’s push, most clinics still book patients by phone, with an operator manually slotting appointments. Insurance verification frequently still runs through phone calls instead of digital checks.
• Informal retail and daily-wage work: Street vendors and small traders weigh transaction fees against thin margins and often choose cash simply because it costs nothing extra.
• Rural agriculture trade: Outside of specific bank-led campaigns, most farm-to-market sales still happen the way they always have.

Why the Gap Exists

The sectors moving fastest share one trait like someone removed the alternative. A bill with a printed QR code, a government form that defaults to digital, an export client who can’t send rupee notes overseas. Where cash is still an option, low transaction-fee tolerance, patchy rural connectivity, and simple habits keep it in place. Mandates change behaviour faster than encouragement does.

For merchants across these fast-moving sectors, from retailers meeting the QR mandate to exporters needing formal settlement, AssanPay’s Instant QR and merchant onboarding tools handle the compliance and the collection side without extra hardware costs.

FAQs

Which sector in Pakistan is most cashless?

Government identity services lead the shift right now, with NADRA’s cashless share jumping from 66% to 76% once Raast QR payments went live across its centres and the PAK ID app.

• 949 NADRA centres now accept QR payments
• The PAK ID app carries 10.7 million users
• Utility billing follows closely, with QR codes printed on gas and electricity bills

Is Pakistan’s retail sector going digital?

Yes, though largely because regulation required it rather than market demand alone. A January 2026 federal order made QR code payments mandatory for every retailer nationwide.

• Non-compliance now carries local enforcement penalties
• KP’s draft bill extends the same rule to clinics and schools
• Merchants using tools like AssanPay’s QR accounts meet the requirement without added hardware

How fast is Pakistan moving to cashless payments?

Fast, but unevenly. Sectors with legal mandates or no cash alternative moved in months, while others are still adjusting.

• Freelancer export earnings grew 78% year-on-year to $1.76 billion
• NADRA’s digital share rose ten percentage points in one reporting cycle
• Utility QR adoption is still early but expanding across two major gas providers and ten electricity DISCOs

Which industries still rely on cash in Pakistan?

Healthcare booking, informal retail, and rural agriculture remain the most cash-dependent parts of the economy.

• Clinics often still confirm appointments by phone call
• Small traders avoid digital tools over transaction fees
• Farm-to-market sales largely stay outside formal banking channels

Why are some sectors slower to adopt digital payments?

Slower sectors usually still have a working cash alternative, while faster ones had that alternative removed by law, infrastructure, or geography.

• Thin margins make transaction fees feel disproportionate to small traders
• Weak rural connectivity limits app-based payment reliability
• Habit persists wherever no mandate or structural shift forces a change