A national survey today exposed a significant trust deficit in digital payment systems within Pakistan’s e-commerce sector, with a commanding 60% of online shoppers opting for Cash on Delivery (CoD) for purchases made in the last six months. This preference underscores the limited inroads of digital financial services among the country’s online consumers.

The study, conducted by Gallup and Gilani Pakistan, presented a detailed breakdown of payment preferences among those who had made an online purchase. Following the dominant CoD option, Easypaisa was the next most popular choice at 15%.

Conventional methods such as credit or debit cards accounted for only 7% of transactions, while bank transfers made up 4%, and mobile wallets a mere 2%. A further 12% of respondents chose “Others” when asked how they paid for their online shopping.

The findings are based on a nationally representative poll of 961 individuals. The research was carried out across both urban and rural areas of all four provinces between November 17 and December 2, 2025, using Computer-Assisted Telephone Interviewing (CATI) for data collection.

Gallup and Gilani Pakistan, the national affiliate of Gallup International which released the study, noted an estimated error margin of approximately ± 2-3 percent at a 95% confidence level for the research.