1LINK is continuing its 22-year anniversary reflections, with Suleman Hasan, Chief Corporate Affairs and Company Secretary, describing trust as the quiet backbone behind the company’s growth over more than two decades. Hasan’s comments follow a similar reflection shared earlier by a colleague at the company, together forming part of 1LINK’s broader messaging around its anniversary milestone.
According to Hasan, every major milestone in 1LINK’s history, from securing its first Payment System Operator and Payment Service Provider licence to achieving Designated Payment System status, was made possible by the confidence placed in the company by regulators, member banks, partners, and the public. Designated Payment System status is a regulatory classification tied to systems considered significant enough to Pakistan’s financial infrastructure to warrant closer oversight, and reaching that status typically reflects a payment network’s scale and the extent to which banks and the broader financial system have come to depend on it.
Hasan framed trust as more than a byproduct of 1LINK’s growth, describing it instead as the company’s greatest responsibility and the foundation underpinning every innovation, partnership, and service that has gone into shaping how payments function in Pakistan today. That framing positions regulatory and institutional confidence as central to how 1LINK views its own role, given that a domestic payment switch depends heavily on banks and regulators trusting the reliability and security of its infrastructure before routing transactions through it.
No specific figures were shared on transaction volumes, the exact date 1LINK secured its original PSO or PSP licence, or further details on how the company’s Designated Payment System status has shaped its operations since being granted. The reflection was shared as part of 1LINK’s ongoing 22nd anniversary messaging, continuing the company’s recent pattern of highlighting different leadership perspectives on its role in Pakistan’s payments ecosystem.
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