aik by BankIslami has introduced aikTijarat, Pakistan’s first Shariah-compliant merchant and business app, designed specifically for shopkeepers, traders, and service providers. Unlike consumer-focused platforms, the new app provides businesses with a dedicated digital environment tailored to their payments, earnings, and business growth.
Through aikTijarat, merchants can open a Shariah-compliant business account digitally without visiting a bank branch. The onboarding process uses CNIC and biometric verification, while existing BankIslami and aik customers can access the platform through a simplified registration process.
After signing up, merchants can receive payments through static and dynamic Raast QR codes, pay suppliers and utility bills directly from their business accounts, and monitor transactions through digital receipts that can be easily shared.
Ashfaque Ahmed, Chief Officer of aik Digital, said the platform was created to address the needs of Pakistan’s merchants, who play a major role in the economy but have often remained outside the digital banking ecosystem. He explained that aikTijarat provides them with a dedicated Shariah-compliant platform built around their businesses.
He further linked the initiative with the government’s goal of creating a cashless Pakistan and the State Bank’s Go-Cashless initiative, noting that a truly digital economy requires merchants themselves to adopt digital payment solutions.
Ghuffran Abbasi, Chief Business Officer at aik, said aikTijarat is designed to be more than just a payments application. The platform aims to become a digital backbone for merchants, helping them access payments, suppliers, financing, and business growth services through a single Shariah-compliant ecosystem.
The launch could have a wider impact on Pakistan’s informal retail sector, which includes millions of shopkeepers, traders, and service providers who have traditionally operated outside formal banking channels. By providing an accessible Islamic business account, aikTijarat aims to bring more merchants into the formal financial system.
As businesses increasingly shift sales, savings, and supplier payments to one digital platform, the move could support greater financial transparency, improved access to future financing, and better visibility into economic activity across the country.
The platform is also positioned as the foundation for a broader merchant network. From small neighbourhood stores to growing retailers and service businesses, aik by BankIslami aims to help merchants move from simply digitizing payments to becoming fully digital businesses. Future developments are expected to include merchant financing and additional business growth solutions.
With aikTijarat, aik by BankIslami strengthens its focus on financial inclusion and Riba-free digital banking, supporting its wider mission of providing ethical, accessible, and technology-driven Shariah-compliant financial solutions.