 | |
| Operating area | Pakistan |
|---|---|
| Members | 37 |
| ATMs | 14,000+ |
| Founded | 1999 |
| Website | https://1link.net.pk/ |
1LINK (Guarantee) Limited is a consortium of major banks that own and operate the largest representative interbank network in Pakistan and is incorporated under the Company Law, Section 42 by Security and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP). 1LINK has been converted to a Private Limited Company under section 49 of Companies Act 2017 on July 5, 2018.
1LINK is owned by the consortium of eleven major banks of the country and operates through a chief executive officer. The company Board consists of eleven directors, one from each founder member bank.
The number of 1LINK member banks has increased rapidly since the inception of the company in 2004.
1LINK is the largest banking consortium in Pakistan. The State Bank of Pakistan has mandated that all commercial banks in Pakistan, both foreign and domestic, become members of 1LINK. Additionally, the four switches have been interconnected since 2006, which means that a consumer holding an ATM or debit card issued by any bank in Pakistan may use any ATM located throughout the country.
In line with State Bank of Pakistan vision 2020 to enhance and promote financial inclusion, 1LINK launched Pakistan’s first domestic payment scheme – PayPak in April, 2016. [5]
PayPak has 10% of market share in terms of volume of cards in the market. [6]
While Visa has 40%, Mastercard and UnionPay have 25% each of market share. [6]
A debit card, also known as a check card or bank card, is a payment card that can be used in place of cash to make purchases. The card usually consists of the bank's name, a card number, the cardholder's name, and an expiration date, on either the front or the back. Many of the new cards now have a chip on them, which allows people to use their card by touch (contactless), or by inserting the card and keying in a PIN as with swiping the magnetic stripe. These are similar to a credit card, but unlike a credit card, the money for the purchase must be in the cardholder's bank account at the time of the purchase and is immediately transferred directly from that account to the merchant's account to pay for the purchase.
Electronic funds transfer at point of sale is an electronic payment system involving electronic funds transfers based on the use of payment cards, such as debit or credit cards, at payment terminals located at points of sale. EFTPOS technology was developed during the 1980s.
Mastercard Maestro is a brand of debit cards and prepaid cards owned by Mastercard that was introduced in 1991. Maestro is accepted at around fifteen million point of sale outlets in 93 countries.
MegaLink is a Philippine-based developer of mobile and banking software as well as a service provider for banks, specifically for Automatic Teller Machine (ATM) networks and point of sale systems for banks. From its establishment in 1989 until 2015, it has pioneered in the interconnectivity of several banks in the country by being the first Interbank Network with different banks as its members.
UnionPay, also known as China UnionPay or by its abbreviation, CUP or UPI internationally, is a Chinese state-owned financial services corporation headquartered in Shanghai, China. It provides bank card services and a major card scheme in mainland China. Founded on 26 March 2002, China UnionPay is an association for China's banking card industry, operating under the approval of the People's Bank of China. It is also an electronic funds transfer at point of sale (EFTPOS) network, and the only interbank network in China that links all the automatic teller machine (ATMs) of all banks throughout the country. UnionPay cards can be used in 181 countries and regions around the world.
Payment cards are part of a payment system issued by financial institutions, such as a bank, to a customer that enables its owner to access the funds in the customer's designated bank accounts, or through a credit account and make payments by electronic transfer with a payment terminal and access automated teller machines (ATMs). Such cards are known by a variety of names, including bank cards, ATM cards, client cards, key cards or cash cards.
An interbank network, also known as an ATM consortium or ATM network, is a computer network that enables ATM cards issued by a financial institution that is a member of the network to be used to perform ATM transactions through ATMs that belong to another member of the network.
Network for Electronic Transfers, colloquially known as NETS, is a Singaporean electronic payment service provider. Founded in 1986 by a consortium of local banks, it aims to establish the debit network and drive the adoption of electronic payments in Singapore. It is owned by DBS Bank, OCBC Bank and United Overseas Bank (UOB).
The Malaysian Electronic Payment System (MEPS) is an interbank network service provider in Malaysia. In August 2017, MEPS merged with Malaysian Electronic Clearing Corporation Sdn Bhd (MyClear) to form Payments Network Malaysia Sdn Bhd (PayNet).
ATM usage fees are the fees that many banks and interbank networks charge for the use of their automated teller machines (ATMs). In some cases, these fees are assessed solely for non-members of the bank; in other cases, they apply to all users. There is usually a higher fee for use of White-label ATMs rather than bank owned ATMs.
The Green Dot Corporation is an American financial technology and bank holding company headquartered in Austin, Texas. It is the world's largest prepaid debit card company by market capitalization. Green Dot is also a payment platform company and is the technology platform used by Apple Cash, Uber, and Intuit. The company was founded in 1999 by Steve Streit as a prepaid debit card for teenagers to shop online. In 2001, the company pivoted to serving the "unbanked" and "underbanked" communities. In 2010, Green Dot Corporation went public with a valuation of $2 billion. Since its inception, Green Dot has acquired a number of companies in the mobile, financial, and tax industries including Loopt, AccountNow, AchieveCard, UniRush Financial Services, and Santa Barbara Tax Products Group.
National Financial Switch (NFS) is the largest network of shared automated teller machines (ATMs) in India. It was designed, developed and deployed by the Institute for Development and Research in Banking Technology (IDRBT) in 2004, with the goal of inter-connecting the ATMs in the country and facilitating convenience banking. It is run by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). As on 31st January’ 22, there were 1,203 members that includes 111 Direct, 1,045 Sub members, 43 RRBs and 4 WLAOs using NFS network connected to more than 2.55 Lac ATM (including cash deposit machines/recyclers).
The BancNet (BN) Point-Of-Sale System is a local PIN-based electronic funds transfer (EFTPOS) payments solution operated by BancNet on behalf of the member banks and China UnionPay (CUP). The BN point of sale (POS) System allows merchants to accept the automated teller machine (ATM) cards of any active BancNet member bank as payment for goods or services and obliges BN to settle the transaction as early as the following banking day through a direct deposit to a settlement account with any member bank. Acceptance of CUP cards is limited to SM Prime Holdings, Inc.'s Department Store, Supermarket, Hypermarket, Super Sale, Watson's, Sports Central, SM Appliance, Toy Kingdom, and select Surplus Stores.
girocard is an interbank network and debit card service connecting virtually all German ATMs and banks. It is based on standards and agreements developed by the German Banking Industry Committee.
MNET Services Private Limited was a Pakistani operator of inter-bank connectivity platform of MCB Bank Ltd for online financial transaction processing and offers a managed services portfolio that includes card personalisation & management, mobile payment services and ATM & POS controller hosting.
The National Payments Corporation of India is an organization that operates retail payments and settlement systems in India. The organization is an initiative of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) under the provisions of the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007, for creating a robust Payment & Settlement Infrastructure in India.
RuPay is an Indian multinational financial services and payment service system, conceived and launched by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) in 2014. It was created to fulfil the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) vision of establishing a domestic, open and multilateral system of payments. RuPay facilitates electronic payment at all Indian banks and financial institutions. NPCI maintains ties with Discover Financial and JCB to enable the RuPay Card scheme to gain international acceptance.
Vocalink is a payment systems company headquartered in the United Kingdom, created in 2007 from the merger between Voca and LINK. It designs, builds and operates the UK payments infrastructure, which underpins the provision of the Bacs payment system and the UK ATM LINK switching platform covering 65,000 ATMs and the UK Faster Payments systems.
Mir is a Russian card payment system for electronic fund transfers established by the Central Bank of Russia under a law adopted on 1 May 2017. The system was developed by Belgian digital payments company OpenWay and is operated by the Russian National Card Payment System, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Central Bank of Russia. Mir does not itself issue cards, extend credit or set rates and fees for consumers; rather, Mir provides financial institutions with Mir-branded payment products that they then use to offer credit, debit, or other programs to their customers. The development and implementation of Mir was spurred by the imposition of international sanctions against Russia in 2014 to circumnavigate the reliance on the likes of Visa and Mastercard, which were blocked in Russia at the time. Mir created its own digital wallet for contactless payments.
PayPak is a Pakistani domestic financial services and payment service launched by 1Link under the State Bank of Pakistan Vision 2020. Currently, 35 of the country's banks have adopted it. The reason to launch this domestic payment scheme was to save inter-change costs of International Payment Schemes. PayPak cards can only be used on ATMs & POS Terminals throughout Pakistan and enabled for online transactions.
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