KARACHI, Pakistan – In a significant move to bolster Pakistan’s digital payments landscape, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has announced plans to establish a dedicated entity to oversee and drive the expansion of Raast, the country’s national instant payment system. The new entity will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of the SBP and will focus on promoting rapid innovation in the digital payments ecosystem while remaining aligned with the central bank’s strategic policy objectives.
The specialized entity aims to leverage operational independence, specialized talent, and market-driven strategies to enhance the adoption and functionality of Raast. Drawing inspiration from global benchmarks such as India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI), Singapore’s FAST, Brazil’s PIX, Jordan’s JoPACC, and Saudi Payments, the entity is expected to evolve as a key pillar in Pakistan’s digital financial infrastructure.
Raast, developed with the support of Karandaaz Pakistan, enables instant, low-cost, and interoperable digital transactions across a wide array of financial service providers including commercial banks, microfinance institutions, Electronic Money Institutions (EMIs), Payment System Operators (PSOs), fintechs, and government bodies. The platform has so far onboarded over 41 million user IDs and processed more than 295 million transactions amounting to Rs. 6.4 trillion in the last quarter alone.
To further strengthen cross-border connectivity, SBP is actively working on integrating Raast with the Buna Payment System—an initiative of the Arab Monetary Fund—to facilitate seamless international remittances and payments.
In parallel, Karandaaz Pakistan is working closely with the SBP to operationalize the upcoming Raast entity. This includes the development of a comprehensive suite of operational policies covering human resource management, technical operations, financial governance, and administrative functions. The aim is to ensure the new entity has a solid institutional foundation for sustainable operations and growth.
As part of this initiative, Karandaaz plans to engage a consulting firm to draft and recommend robust policy frameworks based on both local needs and international best practices. The firm will also propose a detailed skills matrix identifying key competencies and expertise required for effective governance, efficient operations, and strategic scalability of the entity.
This development marks a transformative step in Pakistan’s journey toward a more inclusive, efficient, and innovative digital payments ecosystem.
