Raast: takes another success in Pakistan - Newfound system helps facilitate P2P transactions.

Byline: Shabbir Kazmi

Imran Khan, Prime Minister of Pakistan launched the second phase of Raast, called Person-to-Person instant payment system in a ceremony in Islamabad. Raast, a flagship initiative of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) is a payment system platform that enables various types of transactions among different stakeholders such as organizations, businesses and persons.

The objective of this initiative is to promote digitization and financial inclusion in the country. In the first phase of Raast, launched in January 2021, transactions from organizations to persons, generally referred to as Bulk Payments, were enabled. The second phase is designed to facilitate Person-to-Person (P2P) transactions under Raast.

Prime Minister congratulated Governor State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), Dr. Reza Baqir and his team for the successful completion of the second phase. He was addressing a gathering of Ministers, Presidents of Banks, SBP officials and other distinguished guests at the Prime Minister House in Islamabad.

He appreciated that the newly launched system which will enable ordinary people to execute digital payments instantly, securely, and conveniently without paying any fee and added that Raast will open doors of further innovation for the economy and particularly the financial sector. He expressed his confidence that through digitization of the economy, the over 220 million population could be converted into an asset by ensuring their financial inclusion.

Speaking on the occasion, Minister for Finance and Revenue, Shaukat Tarin appreciated the SBP for the progress made in digitization and expressed his confidence that the forthcoming phases of Raast including payment to merchant will play an important role in facilitating the masses in their financial transaction thus increasing their valuable contribution in the economy.

Governor, Dr. Reza Baqir welcomed the Prime Minister on the launch event and expressed gratitude for his commitment and support to the SBP initiatives for promoting digitization and financial inclusion in the economy. Governor Baqir, while highlighting the key features of Raast, explained that individuals can use this platform in their transactions just like cash and they will not have to pay any fees or charges for using this payment system. More importantly, Raast is secure and convenient and free of risks compared to cash. Raast is easy and simple to use as it allows connecting bank account to user's mobile...