The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has given authorize to the e-commerce payment gateway “PayFast” to begin its operations.
The product is being offered by Avanza Premier Payment Services (APPS), a collaboration formed in 2015 between Avanza Solutions and Premier Systems.
PayFast offers payment acceptance over multiple gateways, such as UnionPay, Visa, and Mastercard cards, mobile wallets, and bank account numbers. It also enables for digital invoicing. Using the gateway, payments can be accepted with just a unique link which can be sent via WhatsApp, Facebook, email or mobile.
PayFast has already received a vote of trust The product has more than 150 merchants on board, and 12 partner banks which include Allied Bank, Askari Bank, Bank of Punjab, Dubai Islamic Bank, Faysal Bank, Finca MicroFinance Bank, HabibMetro Bank, Summit Bank, UBank, JS Bank, Telenor Bank, and NRSP Bank. The merchant count has also climbed steadily and has crossed the 150 mark. At this pace, PayFast is all set to achieve new heights very soon ! 
Syed Adnan Ali, the CEO Payfast, said in a statement, “Digitalisation is our ambition and an indispensable need of society particularly after the Covid-19 pandemic. Our vision is to provide intuitive, reliable and a high standard solution to our valued partners and consumers.” We are very passionate that PayFast will act as a catalyst to digitalize the economy and will lead Pakistan towards cashless journey.
According to a company press release, Pakistan has over 80 million 3G and 4G subscribers, and Covid-19 has caused a boom in online payments as customers now prefer cashless solutions.
They are also helping merchants to accept online payments at ease, by offering them digital sign up, Developer-friendly APIs, plugins for ecommerce stores, and the experience of future payments. PayFast is PCI-DSS compliant entity, coupled with a very dynamic Fraud and Risk Management System that will ensure security and compliance of transactions for the consumer and the merchant.
PayFast will fill the gap of the requirement of a payment gateway in the E-commerce industry. Its indigenous gateway’s services and features would be comparable with renowned international gateways like Stripe, Square, and Razorpay.
