Pakistan’s digital payments ecosystem has taken a significant step forward with the appointment of Ahson bin Saeed as the new Chief Executive Officer of Raast Payments Pakistan (Pvt.) Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of the State Bank of Pakistan.
Raast serves as the country’s first instant payment system, designed to enable real-time, end-to-end digital transactions between individuals, businesses, and government entities. Built as Pakistan’s Faster Payment System, the platform focuses on small-value retail payments while ensuring transactions are processed instantly, securely, and at a low cost.
The system has been developed to provide universal access across the financial sector. Commercial banks, microfinance institutions, government departments, fintech companies, electronic money institutions (EMIs), and payment service providers (PSPs) are all able to connect to Raast, helping create a more interoperable and inclusive digital payments environment.
Pakistan has historically lagged behind in electronic transaction volumes due to several structural challenges. These include limited banking penetration, low public trust and awareness of digital payment solutions, restricted interoperability between financial systems, accessibility issues, and relatively high transaction costs. While Pakistan’s Real-Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) system already supports instant settlements, its scope has largely been limited to high-value and corporate transactions.
Raast was introduced to bridge this gap by extending real-time payment capabilities to everyday retail transactions, offering a scalable alternative that supports broader financial inclusion.
The platform’s growth has accelerated rapidly. According to reports published last month, Raast has processed more than three billion transactions since its launch, with the total value nearing Rs80 trillion.
Officials recently briefed Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on the platform’s progress, noting that Raast has surpassed 48 million registered users. The system is now integrated with 53 financial institutions nationwide, marking a major milestone in Pakistan’s transition toward a digital, cash-light economy.
