By Farooq Awan
ISLAMABAD, Oct 18 (Wealth Pakistan): Raast Payments Pakistan and PRISM+, the upgraded real-time settlement system, have been formally launched by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), marking a decisive step toward a fully digital economy and secure electronic payment infrastructure.
According to the SBP Governor’s Annual Report 2024-25, Raast Payments Pakistan has been incorporated as a wholly owned SBP subsidiary responsible for managing, governing, and expanding the country’s instant-payment platform.
The central bank stated that the creation of a separate company will strengthen operational agility, technological scalability, and governance as Pakistan’s digital transaction volumes continue to rise.
For further reference, visit the State Bank of Pakistan.
Raast Payments Pakistan to drive instant-payments expansion
The SBP report described Raast Payments Pakistan as a key pillar of its ongoing strategy to expand the national payments ecosystem, reduce cash dependency, and align domestic systems with international standards.
The new subsidiary will ensure the reliability of the Raast network, extend its reach to more financial institutions, and enforce security protocols needed for large-value and retail digital payments.
Officials said that FY2025 marked a turning point in Pakistan’s digital-finance journey, with the institutionalization of Raast and the simultaneous rollout of PRISM+.
PRISM+ replaces decade-old RTGS system
The Pakistan Real-Time Interbank Settlement Mechanism Plus (PRISM+) has replaced the country’s earlier real-time gross settlement (RTGS) system, in use for over a decade.
PRISM+ features significantly higher processing capacity and integrates the SBP’s first Central Securities Depository (CSD), enabling real-time settlement of funds and securities on a delivery-versus-payment basis.
This integration, the report said, reduces systemic risk and enhances liquidity management across the financial sector. It also provides straight-through processing of government securities, improved queue-management algorithms, and intraday liquidity facilities for participating institutions.
By improving interoperability between the CSD and payment engine, PRISM+ ensures faster fund turnover and better cash-flow management for banks, corporates, and government entities.
For detailed coverage, see the PRISM+ overview on SBP’s official portal.
Sandbox framework encourages fintech innovation
The central bank also reported the introduction of a Regulatory Sandbox Framework to support controlled testing of new digital payment products by fintechs, banks, and startups under regulatory oversight.
This mechanism enables innovators to trial emerging financial technologies safely before full-scale implementation, helping the SBP stay abreast of rapid global fintech developments while maintaining consumer and system protection.
Demonstrating early progress, digital-payment acceptance systems were installed at major cattle markets during Eid-ul-Azha 2025, allowing QR-code and mobile-based transactions between livestock buyers and sellers — a first for Pakistan’s informal economy.
Following the pilot’s success, digital-acceptance infrastructure is being expanded to retail and government-payment portals.
Digitization of government transactions
The SBP continued digitizing public-sector transactions, including tax receipts and welfare disbursements, through Raast and other electronic channels.
These efforts, combined with reforms in exchange companies, are expected to reduce cash handling, improve transparency, and cut the cost of financial intermediation.
According to the report, modernizing the national payment rails will help broaden financial inclusion and accelerate capital circulation. It will also support the SBP’s disinflationary and fiscal-consolidation goals by improving monetary transmission and curbing idle liquidity outside the banking system.
With currency-in-circulation still elevated, digital solutions such as Raast Payments Pakistan and PRISM+ are expected to route more transactions through formal channels, increasing deposit mobilization and lending capacity.
For insights into Pakistan’s financial inclusion initiatives, visit the World Bank’s Digital Finance in Pakistan page.
Strengthening financial stability and future outlook
The SBP described the digital-finance ecosystem as a foundation for macro-financial stability. By modernizing settlement systems, the bank said, it aims to reduce counterparty risks and ensure effective monetary-policy transmission.
In the long term, the central bank plans to link PRISM+ with cross-border settlement systems and expand Raast for government-to-person (G2P) and person-to-government (P2G) transactions, which account for a large share of daily cash use.
These upgrades, the report concluded, will move Pakistan closer to a transparent, efficient, and resilient digital economy.