A Milestone Achievement in Pakistan’s Financial Cybersecurity Landscape
Karachi, 9 August 2025 — In a major step that takes Pakistan’s financial sector to new heights, the National Institute of Banking and Finance (NIBAF), in collaboration with Risk Associates, successfully delivered a two-day capacity-building training on the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS), held on 7–8 August 2025.
This pioneering initiative was made possible through the forward-looking vision of the State Bank of Pakistan, whose leadership continues to champion digital security across the nation’s banking and payments ecosystem. The session brought together cybersecurity professionals and representatives from leading banks and financial institutions, reflecting a shared commitment to securing financial data and building trust in digital payments.
Risk Associates, a globally recognised certification body and PCI Qualified Security Assessor (QSA), led the training with deep technical expertise and actionable insights on PCI DSS v4.0. The program focused on payment security architecture, cardholder data protection, and compliance lifecycle management—critical pillars for institutions navigating today’s sophisticated threat landscape.
Risk Associates’ industry credibility is reinforced by its membership in the PCI SSC’s Global Executive Assessor Roundtable (GEAR), an exclusive forum of QSA organisations entrusted with shaping the evolution of global payment security frameworks. As a UKAS-accredited certification body, Risk Associates contributes critical insights and helps deliver trusted compliance solutions to financial ecosystems across the Middle East, Australia, and South Asia, Risk Associates brings global intelligence to local financial ecosystems.
“This collaboration with NIBAF marks a transformative moment for Pakistan’s cybersecurity landscape. By aligning with the State Bank of Pakistan’s vision, we’re not only empowering financial institutions with global standards like PCI DSS but also fostering local expertise to meet international benchmarks. At Risk Associates, we’re proud to be a PCI SSC GEAR member and to play a leading role in shaping payment security practices globally and regionally.”— Dr Aftab Rizvi, CEO, Risk Associates
“This training marks a major milestone in our commitment to enhancing the cybersecurity capabilities of banking professionals across Pakistan. By embedding international standards like PCI DSS into our learning framework, we are ensuring financial institutions are better prepared for today’s dynamic threat environment.” — Ms. Lubna Farooq Malik, Co-CEO, NIBAF-PAKISTAN
The initiative signals a long-term commitment to building cybersecurity capability within Pakistan’s financial ecosystem, particularly in the fast-evolving fintech space. It also supports the country’s ambition to contribute skilled cybersecurity professionals to regional and global markets, especially across the Middle East and GCC financial hubs.
As digital payment adoption accelerates, standardised, resilient security frameworks like PCI DSS are essential to protect sensitive data and enable trust-driven growth. Building on this landmark success, Risk Associates and NIBAF take further steps to leap forward by expanding their collaboration to include advanced training on cybersecurity governance, ISO/IEC 27001, and emerging threats shaping the financial sector.
About
Risk Associates
At Risk Associates, our passion is simplifying compliance for organizations in an increasingly complex regulatory environment. As a UKAS-accredited certification body, we specialise in offering certifications and assessments that enable businesses to meet international standards, minimise risks, and safeguard their operations. We take pride in our role as PCI GEAR (Global Executive Assessor Roundtable) Advisors, ranking among the top 30 QSA companies globally.
Risk Associate’s industry recognition, encompassing PCI DSS, PCI PIN, PCI P2PE, PCI TSP, PCI SSF, PCI SSLC, PCI ASV, PCI 3DS, CSA STAR, SOC I and II, ISO/IEC 27001, ISO/IEC 27701, ISO/IEC 22301, ISO/IEC 20000, HIPAA, HITRUST, GDPR, SWIFT, MARS-E, and NIST, serves as a testament to our expertise, knowledge and compliance competence. As a Qualified Security Assessor (PCI-QSA) company approved by the Payment Card Industry (PCI) Security Standards Council, we are acknowledged as an industry leader specialising in cybersecurity, compliance, information governance, strategy and training. Our services extend across Australia, Europe, the Middle East, Asia Pacific and North America.
ABOUT
National Institute of Banking and Finance-Pakistan
A subsidiary of the central bank of the country, State Bank of Pakistan, NIBAF is a leading institute for the training of central and commercial bankers, micro and rural finance providers and management professionals of the country. It has extensive capabilities and expertise to design, develop, deliver and manage different types of trainings programs, workshops and seminars in subjects relevant to Economics, Banking, Finance and Management.
NIBAF is well recognized for conducting both local and international training programs and information dissemination activities such as conferences, seminars, and workshops. Since its inception, NIBAF has played a pioneering in catering to the training needs of the central bank of country, its subsidiaries as well as local banking & financial industry. It is the institute of choice for the banking professionals who are interested in enhancing their knowledge and skills in the modern banking concepts and practices including specialized disciplines like Islamic Finance, SME, Housing, Micro & Agri Finance etc.
