aik by BankIslami Launches aikTijarat, Pakistan’s First Shariah-Compliant Merchant App

BankIslami has introduced aikTijarat, Pakistan’s first Shariah-compliant merchant and business app. This dedicated app separates merchants and businesses from the general consumer ecosystem, providing them with a platform specifically tailored to their earning, payment, and growth needs. With aikTijarat, merchants can open a Shariah-compliant business account digitally, without visiting a branch, using CNIC and biometric verification for onboarding.

Existing BankIslami and aik consumer app customers can also transition to aikTijarat with ease, bypassing a full registration process.

Once onboarded, merchants can instantly receive payments through static and dynamic QR codes over Raast, pay suppliers and utility bills from their business balance, and track transactions with shareable digital receipts—all from their smartphones. Ashfaque Ahmed, Chief Officer of aik Digital, emphasized that Pakistan's merchants, who form the backbone of the economy, have been left out of the digital banking conversation.

AikTijarat aims to rectify this by offering a dedicated, Shariah-compliant platform built around their business requirements, contributing to the Prime Minister’s vision of a cashless Pakistan and the State Bank’s Go-Cashless agenda.

Ghuffran Abbasi, Chief Business Officer at aik, stated that the app is not merely another payments tool but a solution to the challenges merchants face, becoming the digital backbone of their businesses. The significance of aikTijarat extends beyond individual merchants, addressing the informal retail economy, which comprises several million shopkeepers, traders, and service providers who have largely avoided formal banking.

By providing these merchants with a genuine Shariah-compliant business account, aikTijarat removes a significant barrier to their inclusion in the formal banking system.

The impact of aikTijarat goes beyond individual merchants, fostering greater transparency in supply chains, expanding the pool of eligible businesses for future credit and financial services, and offering a more accurate representation of Pakistan’s real economic activity. Beyond payments, aikTijarat serves as the starting point for a broader goal—to build one of Pakistan’s largest and most interconnected merchant networks.

Future phases of the app may introduce merchant financing and additional growth solutions. Through this launch, aik by BankIslami reaffirms its dedication to financial inclusion and Riba-free, Shariah-compliant digital financial solutions, aligning with BankIslami’s mission to save humanity from Riba through ethical, accessible, and technology-driven financial services.