Bank Alfalah, one of Pakistan’s top commercial banks and a four-time consecutive recipient of the Pakistan Banking Awards for digital excellence, has introduced its latest innovation, Alfa Business – Merchants Payment Solutions. The launch marks a significant step toward accelerating digitisation across millions of merchants nationwide as the country continues shifting from traditional cash-based trade to a digitally empowered economy. With this initiative, Bank Alfalah aims to give merchants access to a fully integrated digital ecosystem designed to streamline payment acceptance, financial management and business growth.
The Alfa Business platform is built to support a diverse merchant base, ranging from small roadside retailers to established businesses. It enables digital payment acceptance and provides merchants with tools to track sales across settled and unsettled transactions, generate receipts, issue invoices and manage their finances digitally through the khata feature. The platform also offers instant issuance of Raast QR cards for seamless payments and provides merchants with access to finance using a single integrated system. By consolidating these services, Bank Alfalah is helping to remove long-standing barriers that have kept merchants reliant on cash and manual bookkeeping.
A key component of this digital transformation strategy is Bank Alfalah’s network of Digital Payment Centres, located in major commercial markets across Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad. These centres serve as walk-in hubs for merchants transitioning to digital operations, offering essential financial services that ensure smooth payment flows and uninterrupted business activity. Designed to provide a secure and convenient experience, these centres help merchants familiarise themselves with digital tools while maintaining control of daily financial transactions.
Muhammad Yahya Khan, Chief Digital Officer at Bank Alfalah, emphasised the importance of digitisation for economic progress, stating that Pakistan can only reach its full potential if commerce is digitised at the grassroots level. He highlighted that Alfa Business aims to place simple and secure financial tools directly into the hands of merchants, enabling them to move confidently from cash-based processes to modern digital payments and expand their business capabilities.
The Digital Payment Centres feature high-limit ATMs that allow cash withdrawals of up to one million rupees at any time of day, round-the-clock cash deposit machines that can accept deposits into any bank account in Pakistan, and AI-powered digital cheque deposit kiosks that provide instant credit of funds. Merchants also have the convenience of opening and operating sole proprietor accounts on the spot without needing to visit a physical bank branch, making financial onboarding significantly easier.
The Alfa Business app further strengthens the ecosystem by offering merchants a single digital platform that combines payment acceptance, business management and financial access. Merchants can accept QR payments, including static, dynamic and omni QR, while also utilising the Request to Pay feature for immediate or scheduled collections. Digital khata management allows for recording transactions, managing vendor accounts, issuing itemised invoices and generating digital receipts. The app provides tailored business insights to support informed decision-making and offers instant financing based on transaction activity with minimal documentation requirements. Additional features include instant issuance of prepaid cards, buy now pay later availability via QR and seamless cheque deposit integration.
Through Alfa Business, Bank Alfalah is positioning itself at the forefront of Pakistan’s fintech evolution, offering merchants the tools needed to operate efficiently, grow sustainably and participate fully in the country’s digital economy.
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