Pakistan's credit card market has just recorded its biggest quarterly jump on record, according to State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) data. The number of credit cards in circulation rose from about 2.2 million at the end of the last fiscal year to roughly 3.1 million in the first quarter of the new fiscal year, covering July to September 2025, an increase of around 44 percent in just three months. To put that in perspective, the addition of roughly 900,000 new cards in that single quarter is larger than the total net growth the country's credit card market saw over the previous six years combined, during which the base rose from 1.6 million to 2.2 million cards.
Alongside the surge in card numbers, the value of transactions made using credit cards at ATMs jumped by nearly six times during the same quarter, according to the SBP figures. That is a dramatic shift in how Pakistanis are using credit facilities, though the underlying cause remains unclear even to industry watchers.
No one has explained why
What makes this data unusual is that no major bank, fintech company, or financial institution has publicly announced any large-scale credit card issuance campaign that would explain such a sharp jump. Analysts examining the numbers have floated a few possible explanations: a major but unpublicised card issuance drive by one or more banks, a regulatory reclassification of existing card products such as debit or prepaid cards being recategorised as credit cards in SBP's reporting, or the emergence of new credit-based payment products like digital credit lines or buy-now-pay-later services that may be counted alongside traditional credit cards. So far, the central bank has not issued any public statement clarifying which of these factors, if any, is behind the jump.
Despite the sharp rise, credit cards still represent a small slice of Pakistan's overall card market. Debit cards continue to dominate, accounting for roughly 90 percent of the country's more than 61 million payment cards in circulation, while credit cards make up only a small single-digit percentage of the total.
What this means for consumers
For ordinary Pakistanis, this data is a useful reminder to pay attention to how credit products are being marketed and offered, even if you haven't personally noticed a change. If your bank has recently reached out with new credit card offers, upgraded limits, or bundled credit facilities attached to another product, that activity may be part of the broader pattern showing up in this data. Before accepting any new credit card or credit line, it's worth carefully checking the interest rate, annual fees, and cash withdrawal charges, since ATM withdrawals on a credit card typically carry markup charges that are significantly higher than those on a debit card, making them an expensive way to access cash if balances aren't paid off quickly.
For anyone already holding a credit card, this is also a good moment to review your own statement and confirm that any ATM withdrawals or transactions reflect activity you actually authorised, particularly given how much transaction volume has shifted in a short period across the system as a whole.
What to watch next
The most important thing to watch is whether the State Bank of Pakistan offers any official explanation for the jump in its next quarterly payment systems review, since that would clarify whether this reflects genuine new borrowing activity by Pakistani consumers or simply a data classification change. If it turns out to be real growth in credit card usage, it could signal a broader shift toward consumer credit in Pakistan, which would be worth watching for its implications on household debt levels, especially if paired with rising interest rates or persistent inflation eating into disposable incomes. Consumers who use credit cards regularly should keep an eye on any changes to fee structures or promotional offers from their banks in the coming months, as competition in this space may intensify if the growth turns out to be a genuine trend rather than a reporting artifact.