The National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) has introduced a digital payment platform that will serve as an alternative to automated teller machines (ATMs) that will allow citizens to carry out transactions like payment of utility bills as well as identity documents.
The development comes as NADRA, the largest government database organization, has integrated itself with 1Link, the largest payment gateway in the country and an agreement was signed by NADRA Chairman Tariq Malik and CEO Najeeb Agrawalla at the authority’s headquarters in Islamabad on Friday.
This partnership will enable more than 17,000 e-Sahulat to act as alternative to ATMs and perform transactions like Fund Transfers, Cash-In and Cash-Out, and Public-to-Government (P2G), and Government-to-Public (G2P), and Public-to-Public (P2P2) payments.
Commenting on the development, Chairman Tariq Malik said that NADRA has been taking initiatives to improve e-governance by empowering both public and private sector organizations through its wide range of digital services and expertise.
He added that NADRA e-Sahulat was one of the most advanced digital financial service delivery channels, which had reached the grassroots level across the country.
We are enhancing state capacity to deliver digital public goods and move towards electronic financial transactions for transparency and accountability. This would enable financial inclusion as well,
NADRA Chairman, Tariq Malik
The partnership with NADRA and 1Link will allow citizens to implement national digital payment and financial inclusion objectives in the future and would enable account holders of 40 banks to transfer and withdraw funds across the country using biometric verficiation.
Furthermore, it will turn more than 17,000 NADRA e-Sahulat outlets will double the capacity of more than 16,500 1Link ATMs across the country, allow people in far-flung areas to access financial services and deposit and withdraw cash with convenience.
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