Cisco has completed a multimillion-dollar upgrade of the State Bank of Pakistan’s core banking network, including a new software-defined data centre. U.S. Chargé d’Affaires Natalie Baker joined SBP Governor Jameel Ahmad and senior Cisco Systems Pakistan executives at the central bank’s head office to mark the deployment.
SBP awarded the project to the U.S. technology company as part of an effort to modernise Pakistan’s financial infrastructure. The new architecture aims to make the network more secure, adaptable and resilient. The ceremony announcement said the upgrade would help safeguard monetary stability and support reliable digital banking services nationwide.
SBP keeps central banking operations running during migration
Ahmad and Cisco Country General Manager Kashif Ul-Haque praised the engineering teams that carried out the implementation and migration. The teams completed the switch while SBP continued its central banking operations without interruption. The announcement described the project as multimillion-dollar and gave no exact contract value.
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In a software-defined data centre, administrators can use software to manage networking, computing and storage resources together. Cisco’s technical guidance explains that this approach can automate routine changes and separate network traffic into groups. That separation helps administrators control which systems can communicate with each other. These are general capabilities of the architecture. The ceremony announcement did not specify which Cisco products SBP deployed.
Natalie Baker highlights US-Pakistan technology ties
Baker said trusted technology plays a strategic role in modern financial systems. She also pointed to growing commercial ties between the United States and Pakistan.
“The central bank’s infrastructure is a national asset that underpins economic stability and public confidence,” CDA Baker said. “The State Bank of Pakistan’s choice to partner with American industry demonstrates a commitment to technology quality, security, and long-term reliability. The United States values its long-standing commercial partnership with Pakistan, and we stand ready to continue connecting Pakistani institutions with world-class American innovation.”
The U.S. side presented the deployment as an example of private-sector collaboration. It linked the project to its broader efforts to promote transparent, secure digital infrastructure and deepen bilateral trade and investment.
Where the upgrade fits in Pakistan’s digital banking push
The network deployment comes alongside separate efforts to modernise Pakistan’s payment infrastructure. In June 2025, SBP launched PRISM+, its upgraded real-time settlement system. It handles large-value transfers between banks and supports government securities transactions. The system also lets participants prioritise queued payments and schedule future transactions.
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Pakistan’s retail payments infrastructure also includes Raast, which supports instant transfers between individuals, bulk payments and payments to merchants. In April 2026, SBP updated the PRISM+ operating rules to cover settlement, participant requirements and continuity of operations. The Cisco announcement focused on the central bank’s underlying network and data centre. It did not identify changes to either payment system.
