ISLAMABAD: The Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) has introduced a Social Protection Wallet facility for registered women beneficiaries, enabling them to receive free SIM cards and access future financial assistance through a digital payment mechanism.
According to a BISP statement, eligible women can visit their nearest BISP office or designated campsite to obtain the free SIM card. Following biometric verification, the SIM will be issued and used to activate the beneficiary’s Social Protection Wallet.
BISP said that its instalments, stipends and other financial assistance will subsequently be transferred through the new wallet system.
The programme has advised beneficiaries to keep their SIM cards secure, stressing that the SIM is not merely for mobile communication but will serve as an important component of their digital wallet for receiving BISP payments.
Registered women have also been cautioned against handing over their SIM cards to other individuals and have been advised to obtain them only through authorised BISP offices or designated facilities.
The initiative forms part of the government’s broader efforts to digitise social protection and government payments while making financial assistance more accessible and transparent.
Minister of State for Finance Bilal Azhar Kayani earlier announced that all BISP beneficiaries would be provided with digital wallets by the end of 2026.
Speaking at the launch of Z-Wallet, Kayani said the government was working with both public and private sector institutions to expand digital payments across the country.
He said Pakistan’s digital payment infrastructure had been strengthened through Raast, while further measures were being taken to make digital transactions easier and more widely accessible.
According to Kayani, more than two million traders are using digital payment facilities, while the number of digital banking users has reached 137 million.
He added that the government had provided subsidies on merchant discount rates to encourage QR-code-based payments and was making progress towards greater digitisation of government payments.
The introduction of the BISP Social Protection Wallet is expected to shift the programme’s payment mechanism further towards digital channels, with beneficiaries receiving their financial assistance directly through wallets linked to their officially issued SIM cards.
