SBP Simplifies Account Opening Process, Advises Banks To Provide Digital Payment Solutions

The central bank, issuing the consolidated framework for customer onboarding on Friday, simplified account opening procedures for individuals and businesses and advised banks to provide digital payment solutions to customers engaged in store and online business activities

KARACHI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 25th Jul, 2025) The central bank, issuing the consolidated framework for customer onboarding on Friday, simplified account opening procedures for individuals and businesses and advised banks to provide digital payment solutions to customers engaged in store and online business activities.

The new customer onboarding framework is aimed at simplifying and standardizing the account opening process and rationalizing the documentary requirements along with the enablement of digital and convenient interfaces for account opening across different customer touch points, the State Bank of Pakistan informed in a statement issued here.

Making the customer onboarding process more convenient, safe and efficient, customers will now be able to open all types of accounts through digital means, the SBP stated adding that the banks and regulated entities (REs) have also been advised to ensure that the turnaround time for new account opening does not exceed two days for the general public.

Whereas, the maximum turnaround time for a decision to accept or decline an account or wallet opening request by an entity customer shall be 5 working days from the day of receipt of complete documents, the framework defined.

The REs were further advised that customers should be able to track the status of their account opening applications, making the process transparent and customer friendly, the SBP said terming these measures as continuity of SBP’s efforts to enhance financial inclusion and improve customer convenience.

The banking regulator, in recent years, has introduced branchless banking accounts, Asaan accounts, digital onboarding, and specialized account categories for freelancers, recipients of home remittances and overseas Pakistanis.

Further, to facilitate the merchants in acceptance of payments digitally, SBP has advised its REs to equip all merchants -both new and existing- with at least one of the digital payment acceptance solutions such as Raast QR code, Point of Sale (POS), e-commerce/Raast checkout to facilitate customers’ digital payments for in-store and/or online purchases.

To facilitate the onboarding of small merchants and enabling them with low-cost digital payment acceptance points, SBP has advised its REs to categorize the merchants as micro, small, and registered merchants.

The central bank, through these initiatives, was anticipating further improvement in the regulatory environment for mainstreaming the excluded individuals and businesses into the banking system and digitizing the existing large-scale cash-based persons-to-merchants payments.

Besides, the framework also provides strong regulatory safeguards aligned with international best practices, it concluded.