Procurement of SMS Gateway Services for State Bank of Pakistan

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) is procuring SMS Gateway Services to support its communication needs including customer notifications, transactional alerts, two-factor authentication (2FA), and marketing campaigns. This procurement is specific to SBP Banking Services Corporation located in Karachi, Sindh. The scope includes provision of a secure, scalable, carrier-grade SMS gateway with high availability, capable of handling large message volumes across all Mobile Network Operators in Pakistan. The service must support domestic SMS delivery, outbound messaging on On-net, Off-net, and Ported numbers, multi-language support including Urdu, bulk messaging capabilities, API integration, and routing through SBP's short code 8877. The contract duration is three years with an implementation period of three months from contract signing. Eligible bidders must be registered companies operating in Pakistan with NTN and ATL registration, have at least five years of experience in SMS gateway services, valid PTA license, and ongoing contracts with telecom providers and financial institutions. Technical resources with minimum five years experience and positive net worth with no reported losses are mandatory. Bidders must not be blacklisted or sanctioned by any authority including NACTA. Key dates include a pre-bid meeting on April 23, 2026, at 11:00 AM via Zoom, and bid submission deadline on May 4, 2026, at 11:00 AM through E-PADS portal. Manual bids are not accepted. Bid security of PKR 400,000 must be submitted with the technical bid, both electronically and in original form to the specified SBP address before the deadline. A practical tip for bidders: Ensure your bid is complete with all required technical and financial documents as per the single stage two envelope procedure. Partial or incomplete bids will be rejected. Also, timely submission of original bid security is critical to avoid disqualification. Familiarize yourself with the detailed technical specifications and compliance requirements to avoid technical non-compliance during evaluation.