The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) is set to establish a dedicated subsidiary to drive innovation and expansion of the Raast instant payment system, Pakistan’s national digital payment infrastructure.

This wholly owned subsidiary will operate with operational independence while remaining aligned with the central bank’s policy objectives. The entity will focus on expanding Raast usage by leveraging specialized talent and fostering rapid innovation in the digital payments ecosystem.

The initiative follows successful models from other countries, including India’s UPI, Singapore’s FAST, Brazil’s PIX, and Saudi Payments. These systems have demonstrated how specialized payment entities can accelerate digital financial inclusion and transaction volumes.

“Raast has already shown significant growth, with over 41 million user IDs registered and processing more than 295 million transactions worth Rs. 6.4 trillion in the last quarter alone,” an SBP official noted.

The central bank is simultaneously working to integrate Raast with the Arab Monetary Fund’s Buna Payment System to enable cross-border transactions from Pakistan to various countries.

Karandaaz Pakistan, which initially supported SBP in creating Raast, will assist in operationalizing the new entity by developing comprehensive policies covering human resources, technical operations, financial governance, and administrative functions. The organization is currently seeking a consulting firm to formulate these operational frameworks.