Kissan Gudam, in partnership with aik by BankIslami, unveiled KissanPay—Pakistan’s first Shariah‑compliant agri‑fintech platform—during the Pakistan Agriculture Connections (PAC) Expo 2026. The launch was witnessed by Deputy Governor Saleem Ullah of the State Bank of Pakistan and event coordinator Ahmed Umair, signalling strong regulatory endorsement for fintech innovation in the country’s farming sector.
Background
Agriculture contributes roughly 24 percent of Pakistan’s GDP and employs over 40 percent of the labour force, yet small‑holder farmers have long struggled to obtain affordable credit. Formal banking channels often deem agricultural loans too risky, while informal money‑lenders charge exorbitant interest, pushing many producers into a cycle of debt.
In recent years the State Bank of Pakistan has encouraged digital finance solutions to broaden inclusion, launching a series of sandboxes for fintech start‑ups and issuing guidelines for Islamic‑compliant financial products. Simultaneously, the growth of mobile penetration—now exceeding 80 percent of households—has created a fertile ground for app‑based services that can reach remote villages.
Kissan Gudam, a platform that already connects farmers with input suppliers and buyers, teamed up with aik, the digital arm of BankIslami, to design a product that marries mobile technology with the principles of Islamic finance. The resulting ecosystem, KissanPay, promises interest‑free, profit‑and‑loss‑sharing financing, instant digital payments, and a marketplace that links growers directly with traders and processors.
What it means
For the average smallholder, KissanPay could replace the high‑cost loans of local “haveli” lenders with transparent, Shariah‑aligned financing that is disbursed directly to a farmer’s mobile wallet. By eliminating the need for physical paperwork and branch visits, the platform shortens the credit‑approval cycle from weeks to a few days, enabling timely purchase of seeds, fertilizer, and equipment during critical planting windows.
The digital payment feature also reduces cash‑handling risks in rural areas, where theft and counterfeit notes are common. Transactions recorded on the platform create a verifiable credit history for farmers, which can later be leveraged for larger loans or insurance products—a step toward formalizing the agricultural credit market.
From a macro perspective, the initiative aligns with the government’s “Digital Pakistan” agenda and the SBP’s target to bring an additional US$15 billion of credit into the agrarian economy by 2030. If adopted widely, KissanPay’s model could lower overall financing costs, boost crop yields, and increase farmers’ share of the value chain, thereby contributing to food‑security goals.
What happens next
KissanPay will initially roll out in Punjab and Sindh, the provinces accounting for more than two‑thirds of the nation’s cultivated area. Kissan Gudam and aik have announced a pilot phase that will onboard 10,000 farmers over the next six months, with the platform’s performance metrics—repayment rates, transaction volumes, and farmer satisfaction—monitored closely by the SBP’s fintech sandbox team.
Should the pilot meet its benchmarks, the partners aim to expand to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan, and the Islamabad Capital Territory, adapting the service to regional crop calendars and local market structures. The success of KissanPay could also inspire similar Shariah‑compliant fintech solutions in related sectors such as livestock, fisheries, and horticulture, potentially reshaping the broader landscape of Islamic financial services across South Asia.