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IBFT

Inter Bank Funds Transfer — Pakistan's real-time interbank payment system operated by 1LINK.

Detailed Definition

IBFT (Inter Bank Funds Transfer) is the dominant real-time interbank payment system in Pakistan, operated by 1LINK and integrated with every major Pakistani bank. It enables salaries, vendor payments, and person-to-person transfers to settle within seconds, 24/7, using the recipient's IBAN or account number + bank code.

For payroll, businesses generate an IBFT salary disbursement file (a CSV in 1LINK format) containing employee name, IBAN, amount, and purpose. The file is uploaded to the employer's corporate banking portal, and each employee receives their salary within minutes. Most Pakistani payroll software produces IBFT files specific to each bank (HBL Corporate, MCB Live, UBL Omni, Meezan Business), with slight schema differences between banks.

IBFT transaction limits, fees, and availability vary by bank tier. Corporate accounts typically have no daily cap, while retail accounts have limits around PKR 1 million per day. Peoplifi generates IBFT files pre-formatted for all major Pakistani banks with one click.

Example

We disburse salaries through HBL Connect's IBFT module — 500 employees get paid within 2 minutes of file upload.

Related Terms

PayrollGross SalaryNet Salary

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