BISP free SIM and Social Protection Wallet: all instalments now go to the wallet

The Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) said on Monday, 28 September 2026, that registered women can now collect a free SIM card at any BISP office or campsite and use it to open a BISP Social Protection Wallet. BISP says all future instalments, stipends and other payments will go into this wallet.

If you receive the Benazir Kafaalat instalment, this is the change to act on before the end of the year.

What the Social Protection Wallet is

It is a mobile wallet tied to a SIM issued in the beneficiary's own name after biometric verification. Instead of collecting cash through a retailer or a campsite on payment days, the instalment lands in the wallet, and the woman controls the SIM that holds it. Minister of State for Finance Bilal Azhar Kayani has said every BISP beneficiary should have a digital wallet by the end of 2026.

BISP first rolled the wallet out in November 2025 for about one million women. Monday's announcement opens it to all registered beneficiaries.

How to get the free SIM and open the wallet

1. Go to your nearest BISP tehsil office or a BISP campsite. Take your original CNIC.
2. Have your thumb verified biometrically at the counter.
3. If you are an eligible, registered beneficiary, you are issued a free SIM.
4. The SIM is used to set up your Social Protection Wallet. Future instalments are sent to it.

Check first that you are an active beneficiary: send your CNIC number to 8171 or use the steps in our BISP 8171 eligibility and payment check guide.

Keep the SIM to yourself

BISP's main warning is simple: do not hand the SIM to anyone, including an agent, a relative who offers to "manage" it, or a shopkeeper. Whoever holds the SIM can reach the money. The same applies to the PIN you set for the wallet.

A few more points:

• BISP does not charge anything for the SIM or the wallet. Anyone asking for a fee is not from BISP.
• BISP messages come only from 8171. Calls or SMS from other numbers promising a new instalment or a "registration fee" are fraud.
• If the SIM is lost, contact BISP on 8171 or at your tehsil office before doing anything else.

What it changes for you

The old way meant queues on payment days and repeated complaints of cuts taken by middlemen. A wallet in the beneficiary's own name removes that middle step: the money arrives directly and she decides when to cash it out or pay with it. For a household in a smaller city with no bank branch nearby, that also saves a day's travel each quarter.

BISP has not announced any change to the instalment amount. Keep an eye on the 8171 message for your next payment date.