Users of various mobile payment apps in Pakistan in 2020, with forecasts to 2025

The user base of three different mobile wallets found in Pakistan are forecast to more than triple between 2020 and 2025. The two largest of these, JazzCash and Easypaisa, share a similar history to each other. WIthin Pakistan, activities associated with branchless banking - banking or payments activities performed on a mobile phone instead of in a physical bank branch - can only be performed by entities with a banking license. Within these rules, telecom providers were therefore not allowed to start their own mobile payment activities and led two of the largest mobile network operators, Mobilelink and Telenor, to find a bank partner. JazzCash and Easypaisa both stem from this development: Officially speaking they are banks, following the banking rules laid out within the country, but one could argue they share their DNA with telco components found elsewhere within the country.