Operating area | Pakistan |
---|---|
Members | 37 |
ATMs | 14,000+ |
Founded | 1999 |
Website | https://1link.net.pk/ |
1Link 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 was 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.
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.
In 2020, 1LINK launched Pakistan’s first domestic payment scheme – PayPak in April, 2016. [4]
The economy of Pakistan is categorized as a developing economy. It ranks as the 24th-largest based on GDP using purchasing power parity (PPP) and the 46th largest in terms of nominal GDP. With a population of 241.5 million people as of 2023, Pakistan's position at per capita income ranks 161st by GDP (nominal) and 138th by GDP (PPP) according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) is the central bank of Pakistan. Its Constitution, as originally laid down in the State Bank of Pakistan Order 1948, remained basically unchanged until 1 January 1974, when the bank was nationalised and the scope of its functions was considerably enlarged. The State Bank of Pakistan Act 1956, with subsequent amendments, forms the basis of its operations today. The headquarters are located in the financial capital of the country in Karachi. The bank has a fully owned subsidiary with the name SBP Banking Services Corporation (SBP-BSC), the operational arm of the Central Bank with Branch Office in 16 cities across Pakistan, including the capital Islamabad and the four provincial capitals Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar, Quetta. The State Bank of Pakistan has other fully owned subsidiaries as well: National Institute of Banking and Finance, the training arm of the bank providing training to Commercial Banks, the Deposit Protection Corporation, and ownership of the Pakistan Security Printing Corporation.
National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) is a Pakistani government-owned multinational commercial bank which is a subsidiary of State Bank of Pakistan. It is headquartered in Karachi, Pakistan. As of December 2022, it has over 1,500 branches across Pakistan.
BancNet is a Philippine-based interbank network connecting the ATM networks of local and offshore banks, and the country's single interbank network in the Philippines in terms of the number of member banks and annual transactions. Due to its status as the country's single ATM switch operator, it is designated by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) as the country's national ATM network.
United Bank Limited (UBL) is a Pakistani commercial bank headquartered in Karachi. It is a subsidiary of British multinational conglomerate, Bestway Group.
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.
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.
Habib Bank Limited commonly known as HBL, is a Pakistani commercial bank based at Habib Bank Plaza, Karachi, Pakistan.
MCB Bank Limited is a Pakistani commercial bank which is based in Lahore, Punjab. The majority of shares are owned by companies that are part of Nishat Group or Malaysian bank Maybank.
Turbat International Airport is located at Turbat, Balochistan, Pakistan. It has the largest land area within the province of Balochistan. It is the second largest airport in Balochistan, after Quetta International Airport. The airport is located 5 km south of the city. The airport caters to the population of Turbat and the surrounding areas of Pidarak, Karkiabdar and Kalatak.
ATM usage fees are what 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 the use of White-label ATMs rather than bank-owned ATMs.
Euronet Worldwide is an American provider of global electronic payment services with headquarters in Leawood, Kansas. It offers automated teller machines (ATM), point of sale (POS) services, credit/debit card services, currency exchange and other electronic financial services and payments software. Among others, it provides the prepaid subsidiaries Transact, PaySpot, epay, Movilcarga, TeleRecarga and ATX.
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.
National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) is an Indian public sector company that operates retail payments and settlement systems in India. The organization is an initiative of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Indian Banks' Association (IBA) under the provisions of the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007, for creating a robust payment and settlement infrastructure in India.
TPS Pakistan is a Pakistani technology company established in 1996 by two entrepreneurs Mohammed Sohail and Mubashir Rahim.
RuPay is an Indian multinational financial services and payment service system, conceived and owned by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). It was launched in 2012, to fulfil the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) vision of establishing a domestic, open and multilateral system of payments. RuPay facilitates electronic payments at almost all Indian banks and financial institutions. NPCI has partnered with Discover Financial and JCB to help the RuPay network gain international acceptance.
Pakistan's e-trading mainly involves buying and selling goods, and services using internet or telephone, through the use of electronic means such as computer, fax machine, cellular phone, automated teller machines (ATMs), and other electronic appliances with or without using the internet. Online banking, e-tickets, share trading in stock exchange are few examples of e-commerce of modern advancement. The unique feature of online trading is that an investor logging in from anywhere, can conduct transactions with nearly any device, via the internet. Inexperienced Traders are also able to familiarize themselves with helpful investment tools, which are widely available on the internet.
LankaClear is the largest payments infrastructure provider in Sri Lanka. Established in February 2002, the organization is owned by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) and all CBSL-licensed commercial banks in the country. LankaClear is the operator of LankaPay, the country's largest interbank payment network.
PayPak is a domestic payment service available in Pakistan.
Raast is an instant payment system developed by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP). It operates using the state-of-the-art Pakistan Faster Payment System (PFPS), facilitating real-time settlement of small-value retail payments, including inter-bank peer-to-peer (P2P) and person-to-merchant (P2M) transactions. It also enables digital payments between banks, businesses, and individuals, offering a free, fast, and reliable person-to-person (P2P) service within Pakistan. Users can conveniently send or receive money using Raast IDs, which are linked to their mobile numbers and bank accounts, making the process seamless and cost-free.