Tag: RAAST

  • Mobile banking grows by 100% during FY22 in Pakistan

    Mobile banking grows by 100% during FY22 in Pakistan

    According to the State Bank of Pakistan’s (SBP) Annual Payment Systems Review, the size of the digital payments ecosystem witnessed massive increase over the previous fiscal year. The report reveals that internet banking expanded by 51.7 per cent to 141.7 million users in FY22, while mobile phone banking increased by 100.4 per cent to 387.5 million.

    There were 15 million P2P (Person-to-Person) Raast users registered, who carried out 7.9 million transactions worth Rs102.1 billion.

    The report also notes that during FY22, there were 8.4 million and 12.3 million users of mobile phones and internet banking, respectively.

    In terms of transactions, mobile phone banking increased by 100.4 per cent to 387.5m, while internet banking grew by 51.7 per cent to 141.7m during the year.

    In 2021–2022, internet banking transactions had a value of Rs10.2 trillion, increasing 81.1 per cent. The volume of e-commerce transactions increased by 107.4 per cent to 45.5 million, and the value increased by 74.9 per cent to Rs106 billion.

    A total of 32,958 point-of-sale devices were installed during FY22, which caused the network to grow by 45.8 per cent to 104,865. The number of online retailers registered with the banks increased over this time from 3,003 to 4,887. The nation’s ATM network expanded by 4.8 per cent during the course of the year, totaling 17,133 machines.

  • Govt to pay pensions, salaries via Raast instant payment system

    Govt to pay pensions, salaries via Raast instant payment system

    The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and Controller General of Accounts Pakistan (CGAP) have decided to digitise the payment system for salaries/payments of government employees.

    The payments will be made through Raast.

    Raast is an initiative taken by Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan to promote easy tax collection and move the country towards a cashless economy.

    According to a press release, SBP and CGAP have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to use Raast for payments. The payroll and pension-roll data will be shared from the CGA system to SBP’s Raast through a highly secure interface, and payments to the beneficiaries’ accounts will be made instantly after validating the beneficiaries’ detail.

    To ensure that payments are only credited in the intended beneficiary’s account, the digital payment system will verify the beneficiaries’ details with their banks in real-time before crediting the payment in the beneficiary’s account.

    The central bank further added that they are working to make payments of social security nets like Ehaas Programme, Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP), and other government programmes through Raast.

    Raast is Pakistan’s first digital payment system that will ensure payments instantaneously for individuals, businesses and the government.

    The system can also make payments to multiple beneficiaries at a time to cater to high volume government payments like salaries, pension and social security payments.