KARACHI: Information technology experts confirmed on Friday that Pakistani merchants would be able to make cross-border financial transactions in the next six months using major international payments platforms, including PayPal, Apple Pay and Google Pay, via Checkout.com.
PayPal Holdings and other foreign companies providing online payment facilities do not operate in the country, making it difficult for local businesses to adopt simpler ecommerce mechanisms.
“The technology trials between NIFT [National Institutional Facilitation Technologies] and Checkout.com have kicked off,” Badar Khushnood, head of ecommerce committee of the Pakistan Software Houses Association (P@SHA), told Arab News. “Both sides are looking into different aspects of online payments, such as how money will be received and returned or how transactions will be cancelled. All of these things are being worked out.”
Checkout.com is a global payment provider which offers reliable payments in more than 150 different currencies. It also accepts payments from all major international card schemes, including Visa, MasterCard and American Express, along with other popular alternatives and local payment methods.
“Checkout.com brings a unified offering of all the prominent international payment methods and wallets such as PayPal, AliPay, Apple Pay and Google Pay, enabling merchants to pay and run their businesses in Pakistan,” according to a statement issued by the Ministry of Commerce on Thursday.

Khushnood, who leads the private sector in the National E-Commerce Council (NeCC), informed that the technology would be delivered to ecommerce merchants in Pakistan within three to six months.
The progress on the implementation of the payment system project was discussed in the third NeCC meeting which was chaired by the adviser to prime minister on commerce and investment, Abdul Razak Dawood, on Thursday.
“The implementation will enable both organizations to provide payment services through each other’s infrastructure and pursue commercial opportunities as a partnership,” the commerce ministry statement added. “This strives towards a borderless experience for businesses and consumers alike, promoting digital payments and settlements for exports and digital commerce across Pakistan.”
NIFT that partnered with Checkout.com is a joint venture between a consortium of six major banks and entrepreneurs from the private sector. It has been licensed and nominated by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) as Payment System Operator (PSO) and Payment System Provider (PSP) to maintain an electronic platform for clearing, processing, routing and switching of electronic transactions.
“PayPal, Apple Pay, and Google Pay do not operate in Pakistan,” Khushnood said, adding the gap would be filled by Checkout.com-enabled technology.
“The merchants will now be able to directly receive payments in their bank accounts as these companies are legally connected to Checkout.com which has permission to operate in countries where our businesses do not exist in a legal sense,” he explained.
Pakistani officials maintain that digitization of payment is becoming more popular in the country since cash payments are getting more expensive in comparison to digital ones.
“The Punjab Revenue Authority has slashed sales tax from 16 percent to five percent on payment through plastic money. Digital payments have increased by 35 percent,” Khushnood informed.