Raast Payment System to Revolutionize Transaction Speeds in Pakistani Banking

[Chakar The Great]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1348568817941798912

https://twitter.com/x/status/1348215427806191618

 

[Morpheus]

Raast Payment System to Revolutionize Transaction Speeds in Pakistani Banking

Posted 11 mins ago by M Yasir

Raast is Pakistan’s first instant payment system that will enable end-to-end digital payments among individuals, businesses, and government entities, instantaneously.

​

This state-of-the-art payment system will be used to settle small-value retail payments in real-time while at the same time provide cheap, and universal access to all players in the financial industry, including banks and fin-techs.
Pakistan has had low electronic transactions for several reasons, including low banking penetration, lack of trust, and awareness of digital payment methods, limited interoperability, difficult accessibility, and high cost of transactions.
The Real-Time Gross Settlement System (RTGS) of Pakistan provides instant payment settlements for large value and corporate transactions only. Raast will facilitate retail payment settlements with greater efficiency.

Digital payments only account for 0.2 percent of Pakistan’s approximately 100 billion transactions today, whereas the share of digital transactions in peer countries ranges from 1.5 percent to 7 percent. This can be attributed to the challenges within the payment ecosystem.

Features of Raast

Raast will provide instant payments services, as it will facilitate near real-time digital payments across individuals, merchants, businesses, and government entities.

It will charge low-to-no transaction costs for end-users. Designed to operate at a cost-recovery model, Raast will make digital payments affordable to end-users of all socio-economic backgrounds.

Raast will be functional on sector-wide interoperability. It will allow all financial institutions to seamlessly connect via a single link to the central infrastructure, making digital payments accessible across any channel to customers of any financial institution.
It will offer customer-centric innovative products and services. Raast will be built on cutting-edge technological standards, allowing financial institutions to develop innovative and user-friendly digital payment products and services (e.g., payment through phone number/email).

Raast will ensure reliability and enhanced security. It will introduce secure payment types, ensure that each transaction is authorized by the payer, and offer enhanced data protection and fraud detection services.

DFSs are extended by Financial Institutions including:

1. Banks

There are in total 44 banks, of which there are with a network spanning 16,121 branches. These institutions are licensed to provide a full range of financial services to Pakistanis.

1. PSOs/ PSPs

Licensed under the Rules for Payment System Operator/ Payment Services Provider (PSO & PSP) 2014, these institutions are licensed to provide the following services to Pakistanis.

• An electronic platform for clearing, processing, routing, and switching of electronic transactions.
• It can make agreements with banks, FIs, and other PSOs and PSPs merchants, e-commerce service providers, and any other company for the provision of services mandated to the PSO and PSP under the said rules.

3. EMIs

The Electronic Money Institutions (EMIs) offer innovative, user-friendly, and cost-effective low-value digital payment instruments like wallets, prepaid cards, and contactless payment instruments. E-money has played a crucial role in digitizing different types of payments in various countries.

The EMIs in Pakistan will offer interoperable and secure digital payment products and services to end-users.
Under the regulations, prospective EMI applicants are granted EMI license in three stages viz In-Principle Approval, Approval for Commencement of Pilot Operations, and the Final Approval, i.e., License.

4. Government Entities

Government Entities play a significant role in extending Digital Financial Services to Pakistanis. RaastPay enables Dividend Payments, Salary Disbursements, and other Government to Person (G2P) transfers.

Payment Infrastructure in Pakistan

Raast project is an on-going collaboration between Karandaaz and the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP). The project aims to improve the payment infrastructure, with the objectives of further developing digital financial services, reducing reliance on cash, and driving financial inclusion in Pakistan. It will become a core component of Pakistan’s payment infrastructure that will enable individuals, businesses, and government entities to make any payment digitally in a simple, fast, low-cost, and secure manner.

Besides Raast, various payment systems are being operational in Pakistan under the supervision of the State Bank of Pakistan with their designated scope of works, including Large Value Payment Systems (LVPS), Pakistan Real-time Interbank Settlement Mechanism (PRISM), and Retail Payment Systems.

Raast Payment System to Revolutionize Transaction Speeds in Pakistani Banking

Prime Minister Imran Khan launched Pakistan’s first instant payment system – Raast – to enable end-to-end digital payments among individuals,

propakistani.pk

++++++++++++++++++

 

[Chakar The Great]

I hope it comes into action as early as possible.

 

[Morpheus]

I hope it comes into action as early as possible.

They launched it today

 

[fitpOsitive]

Raast Payment System to Revolutionize Transaction Speeds in Pakistani Banking

Posted 11 mins ago by M Yasir

Raast is Pakistan’s first instant payment system that will enable end-to-end digital payments among individuals, businesses, and government entities, instantaneously.

​

This state-of-the-art payment system will be used to settle small-value retail payments in real-time while at the same time provide cheap, and universal access to all players in the financial industry, including banks and fin-techs.
Pakistan has had low electronic transactions for several reasons, including low banking penetration, lack of trust, and awareness of digital payment methods, limited interoperability, difficult accessibility, and high cost of transactions.
The Real-Time Gross Settlement System (RTGS) of Pakistan provides instant payment settlements for large value and corporate transactions only. Raast will facilitate retail payment settlements with greater efficiency.

Digital payments only account for 0.2 percent of Pakistan’s approximately 100 billion transactions today, whereas the share of digital transactions in peer countries ranges from 1.5 percent to 7 percent. This can be attributed to the challenges within the payment ecosystem.

Features of Raast

Raast will provide instant payments services, as it will facilitate near real-time digital payments across individuals, merchants, businesses, and government entities.

It will charge low-to-no transaction costs for end-users. Designed to operate at a cost-recovery model, Raast will make digital payments affordable to end-users of all socio-economic backgrounds.

Raast will be functional on sector-wide interoperability. It will allow all financial institutions to seamlessly connect via a single link to the central infrastructure, making digital payments accessible across any channel to customers of any financial institution.
It will offer customer-centric innovative products and services. Raast will be built on cutting-edge technological standards, allowing financial institutions to develop innovative and user-friendly digital payment products and services (e.g., payment through phone number/email).

Raast will ensure reliability and enhanced security. It will introduce secure payment types, ensure that each transaction is authorized by the payer, and offer enhanced data protection and fraud detection services.

DFSs are extended by Financial Institutions including:

1. Banks

There are in total 44 banks, of which there are with a network spanning 16,121 branches. These institutions are licensed to provide a full range of financial services to Pakistanis.

1. PSOs/ PSPs

Licensed under the Rules for Payment System Operator/ Payment Services Provider (PSO & PSP) 2014, these institutions are licensed to provide the following services to Pakistanis.

• An electronic platform for clearing, processing, routing, and switching of electronic transactions.
• It can make agreements with banks, FIs, and other PSOs and PSPs merchants, e-commerce service providers, and any other company for the provision of services mandated to the PSO and PSP under the said rules.

3. EMIs

The Electronic Money Institutions (EMIs) offer innovative, user-friendly, and cost-effective low-value digital payment instruments like wallets, prepaid cards, and contactless payment instruments. E-money has played a crucial role in digitizing different types of payments in various countries.

The EMIs in Pakistan will offer interoperable and secure digital payment products and services to end-users.
Under the regulations, prospective EMI applicants are granted EMI license in three stages viz In-Principle Approval, Approval for Commencement of Pilot Operations, and the Final Approval, i.e., License.

4. Government Entities

Government Entities play a significant role in extending Digital Financial Services to Pakistanis. RaastPay enables Dividend Payments, Salary Disbursements, and other Government to Person (G2P) transfers.

Payment Infrastructure in Pakistan

Raast project is an on-going collaboration between Karandaaz and the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP). The project aims to improve the payment infrastructure, with the objectives of further developing digital financial services, reducing reliance on cash, and driving financial inclusion in Pakistan. It will become a core component of Pakistan’s payment infrastructure that will enable individuals, businesses, and government entities to make any payment digitally in a simple, fast, low-cost, and secure manner.

Besides Raast, various payment systems are being operational in Pakistan under the supervision of the State Bank of Pakistan with their designated scope of works, including Large Value Payment Systems (LVPS), Pakistan Real-time Interbank Settlement Mechanism (PRISM), and Retail Payment Systems.

Raast Payment System to Revolutionize Transaction Speeds in Pakistani Banking

Prime Minister Imran Khan launched Pakistan’s first instant payment system – Raast – to enable end-to-end digital payments among individuals,

propakistani.pk

++++++++++++++++++

May I use this system to buy or sell my any/my products from Digikey or Amazon ?
That's the thing.

 

[Syed1.]

'IMF agent' Raza Baqir bringing revolutionary changes that patriots in last many decades didn't even think off.


I wish we had more 'agents' like him and less 'patriots' like the previous guy who fostered and enabled money laundering of corrupt politicians.

 

[TheSnakeEatingMarkhur]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1348568817941798912

View attachment 705773

https://twitter.com/x/status/1348215427806191618

They have too many systems they need to put them all together... woth linkage to private systems...

 

[Bilal.]

'IMF agent' Raza Baqir bringing revolutionary changes that patriots in last many decades didn't even think off.


I wish we had more 'agents' like him and less 'patriots' like the previous guy who fostered and enabled money laundering of corrupt politicians.

They called Raza Baqir IMF agent and they called Moeed Yousuf American agent. Both doing excellent job.

 

[Norwegian]

They called Raza Baqir IMF agent and they called Moeed Yousuf American agent. Both doing excellent job.

While Indian and Saudi agents such as Nawaz Sharif and Maulana Diesel are still roaming free

 

[ghazi52]

PM Imran launches Pakistan's first instant digital payment system to boost formal economy

Dawn.com

January 11, 2021

Prime Minister Imran Khan addresses the launching ceremony of Raast in Islamabad on Monday. — DawnNewsTV



Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday launched the country's first instant digital payment system called "Raast", which he said would boost the country's formal economy.
Addressing the launch ceremony in Islamabad, he termed the new system a "big step" towards realising Pakistan's full potential, saying the country's cash economy was a "big obstacle" for it to fully take advantage of its population of 220 million.
"The biggest loss [because of] the cash economy is [to] our tax collection. Pakistan is among the lowest tax collectors in the world," the premier said, adding that out of a population of 220m, only two million were taxpayers.
Explaining how the low tax collection affected the country, the prime minister said that it meant "we cannot build our infrastructure. We cannot do human development. We cannot educate children or improve hospitals."

"A country which 50 years back was advancing the fastest in the region, cannot [develop] because we do not have enough money [for it]," he lamented.

He said that the digital payment system would "slowly take people away from the cash economy" to a point where advantage could be taken of the country's large population. Besides the shift towards his vision of 'Digital Pakistan', the system would also lead to the inclusion of people from the weaker segment of society, according to the premier.

"Another important aspect of this [is that] we include [people from the weaker segment of society] too in our development."

He said that the government's poverty alleviation initiative — Ehsaas — was using the system of mobile wallets and was considering incorporating women's bank accounts into the programme. "Raast will take this forward," he added.

"Our effort is that we bring financial inclusion to women, give them opportunities, open bank accounts for them, help them, give them livestock so they can themselves [improve] their standard of living and it becomes a source of livelihood for them. The Raast programme will help with this."


Increased remittances


The prime minister congratulated the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) for the way it "engaged overseas Pakistanis [and] the way remittances increased".

"Never before have remittances increased like this," he said, referring to the latest data by the SBP which showed that remittances from overseas Pakistanis during Dec 2020 rose by 16.2 per cent year-on-year to $2.436 billion, compared to $2.097b in December 2019, clocking in above $2b mark for the seventh consecutive month.

"It too is a big achievement of the SBP that our overseas Pakistanis who sent money through non-formal channels are now trying to send through formal channels."

The benefit of the increased remittances could be seen in how the country's current account had been in surplus for the last five months, the premier said, adding that the biggest benefit was a decrease in pressure on the rupee.

"As soon as the current account is in deficit, and fewer dollars come into the country while more go out, there is pressure on the rupee and as the rupee depreciates, the whole society is affected."

The poor people were the ones most affected by this as import of everyday household items such as ghee and pulses became more costly. "It has an impact on everything."

"So [when] the current account went into surplus, it took off a lot of pressure from our rupee," the prime minister said, while appreciating the role of the SBP that he said had taken steps to encourage Pakistanis working overseas to send back money through formal channels.


"The effort of Raast is to boost our formal economy."

He once again congratulated the SBP and its governor, Dr Reza Baqir, saying they had to "think every day how we can bring the remittances through formal channels".

"This is a great challenge for you," he said while addressing Baqir and his team. "I pay tribute to you for what you have done till now."

The prime minister also thanked Queen Maxima of the Netherlands for "taking so much interest in Pakistan, in the wellbeing especially of women living in deprived areas", for wanting to increase financial inclusion and for also taking an interest in the Ehsaas programme.

He also thanked the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for their help to Pakistan, especially in the polio eradication programme.

The prime minister also thanked the British High Commission and the World Bank.


Explosion in digital payments

SBP Governor Dr Reza Baqir, who spoke before the premier, said that between 500 and 1,000 new accounts were being opened in the country every day and so far $280b had been sent into these accounts.
"More importantly our remittances from overseas Pakistanis are at record-breaking levels.
There have been about $2b [coming in the form of remittances] every month since the beginning of this fiscal year."
He said that besides the increase in remittances, the country also witnessed "an explosion in the use of digital and online channels to make payments".

"During the first quarter of this fiscal year, the number of transactions through mobile banking channels rose to 36 million, this represents a growth of 140pc over last year," the central bank governor shared.

The amount sent through these channels rose to Rs900b in the first quarter of this fiscal year, which was a growth of 200pc over last year, he added.

"These are phenomenal numbers for any country in its journey of digitalisation."

He said that in line with the prime minister's vision for low-cost housing and the construction industry, banks were training their employees to facilitate people who came to their branches to get information about the markup subsidy scheme to promote low-cost housing.

"We at the State Bank are helping banks in this journey and also monitoring the progress.

"I want to assure you Mr Prime Minister, ladies and gentlemen that the SBP will continue to innovate. It will continue to embrace opportunity to bring digitalisation to our country and to bring the financial system to those who are not in it," Baqir said.

He concluded by thanking the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Adviser to the Prime Minister for Institutional Reforms Dr Ishrat Husain, Queen Maxima, the World Bank and the British High Commission.

 

[Path-Finder]

thnak you nawaj sharif.

 

[Crimson Blue]

Thank you Bilawal .....

 

[Syed1.]

"Iska faida bhi Nawaz Sharif ko hoga" - Hamid Mir Jaffar

Funny how you NEVER find certain posters on threads related to positive development in the economy but they swarm to any negative news like maggots to rotting flesh. Just shows how loyal they are to the country as opposed to the political leaders they worship.

 

[Aryeih Leib]

"Iska faida bhi Nawaz Sharif ko hoga" - Hamid Mir Jaffar

Funny how you NEVER find certain posters on threads related to positive development in the economy but they swarm to any negative news like maggots to rotting flesh. Just shows how loyal they are to the country as opposed to the political leaders they worship.

Sir that's actually true . They use such words for the people in govt even their families that's utterly shameful just because they don't support them . They don't care if they country progress or not they just hate a particular party no matter what they do how they do .these people will never acknowledge them

Such pathetic people are found in india too may be something related to genes

 

[Norwegian]

'IMF agent' Raza Baqir bringing revolutionary changes that patriots in last many decades didn't even think off.


I wish we had more 'agents' like him and less 'patriots' like the previous guy who fostered and enabled money laundering of corrupt politicians.

They have too many systems they need to put them all together... woth linkage to private systems...

They called Raza Baqir IMF agent and they called Moeed Yousuf American agent. Both doing excellent job.

PM Imran launches Pakistan's first instant digital payment system to boost formal economy

Dawn.com

January 11, 2021

Prime Minister Imran Khan addresses the launching ceremony of Raast in Islamabad on Monday. — DawnNewsTV



Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday launched the country's first instant digital payment system called "Raast", which he said would boost the country's formal economy.
Addressing the launch ceremony in Islamabad, he termed the new system a "big step" towards realising Pakistan's full potential, saying the country's cash economy was a "big obstacle" for it to fully take advantage of its population of 220 million.
"The biggest loss [because of] the cash economy is [to] our tax collection. Pakistan is among the lowest tax collectors in the world," the premier said, adding that out of a population of 220m, only two million were taxpayers.
Explaining how the low tax collection affected the country, the prime minister said that it meant "we cannot build our infrastructure. We cannot do human development. We cannot educate children or improve hospitals."

"A country which 50 years back was advancing the fastest in the region, cannot [develop] because we do not have enough money [for it]," he lamented.

He said that the digital payment system would "slowly take people away from the cash economy" to a point where advantage could be taken of the country's large population. Besides the shift towards his vision of 'Digital Pakistan', the system would also lead to the inclusion of people from the weaker segment of society, according to the premier.

"Another important aspect of this [is that] we include [people from the weaker segment of society] too in our development."

He said that the government's poverty alleviation initiative — Ehsaas — was using the system of mobile wallets and was considering incorporating women's bank accounts into the programme. "Raast will take this forward," he added.

"Our effort is that we bring financial inclusion to women, give them opportunities, open bank accounts for them, help them, give them livestock so they can themselves [improve] their standard of living and it becomes a source of livelihood for them. The Raast programme will help with this."


Increased remittances


The prime minister congratulated the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) for the way it "engaged overseas Pakistanis [and] the way remittances increased".

"Never before have remittances increased like this," he said, referring to the latest data by the SBP which showed that remittances from overseas Pakistanis during Dec 2020 rose by 16.2 per cent year-on-year to $2.436 billion, compared to $2.097b in December 2019, clocking in above $2b mark for the seventh consecutive month.

"It too is a big achievement of the SBP that our overseas Pakistanis who sent money through non-formal channels are now trying to send through formal channels."

The benefit of the increased remittances could be seen in how the country's current account had been in surplus for the last five months, the premier said, adding that the biggest benefit was a decrease in pressure on the rupee.

"As soon as the current account is in deficit, and fewer dollars come into the country while more go out, there is pressure on the rupee and as the rupee depreciates, the whole society is affected."

The poor people were the ones most affected by this as import of everyday household items such as ghee and pulses became more costly. "It has an impact on everything."

"So [when] the current account went into surplus, it took off a lot of pressure from our rupee," the prime minister said, while appreciating the role of the SBP that he said had taken steps to encourage Pakistanis working overseas to send back money through formal channels.


"The effort of Raast is to boost our formal economy."

He once again congratulated the SBP and its governor, Dr Reza Baqir, saying they had to "think every day how we can bring the remittances through formal channels".

"This is a great challenge for you," he said while addressing Baqir and his team. "I pay tribute to you for what you have done till now."

The prime minister also thanked Queen Maxima of the Netherlands for "taking so much interest in Pakistan, in the wellbeing especially of women living in deprived areas", for wanting to increase financial inclusion and for also taking an interest in the Ehsaas programme.

He also thanked the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for their help to Pakistan, especially in the polio eradication programme.

The prime minister also thanked the British High Commission and the World Bank.


Explosion in digital payments

SBP Governor Dr Reza Baqir, who spoke before the premier, said that between 500 and 1,000 new accounts were being opened in the country every day and so far $280b had been sent into these accounts.
"More importantly our remittances from overseas Pakistanis are at record-breaking levels.
There have been about $2b [coming in the form of remittances] every month since the beginning of this fiscal year."
He said that besides the increase in remittances, the country also witnessed "an explosion in the use of digital and online channels to make payments".

"During the first quarter of this fiscal year, the number of transactions through mobile banking channels rose to 36 million, this represents a growth of 140pc over last year," the central bank governor shared.

The amount sent through these channels rose to Rs900b in the first quarter of this fiscal year, which was a growth of 200pc over last year, he added.

"These are phenomenal numbers for any country in its journey of digitalisation."

He said that in line with the prime minister's vision for low-cost housing and the construction industry, banks were training their employees to facilitate people who came to their branches to get information about the markup subsidy scheme to promote low-cost housing.

"We at the State Bank are helping banks in this journey and also monitoring the progress.

"I want to assure you Mr Prime Minister, ladies and gentlemen that the SBP will continue to innovate. It will continue to embrace opportunity to bring digitalisation to our country and to bring the financial system to those who are not in it," Baqir said.

He concluded by thanking the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Adviser to the Prime Minister for Institutional Reforms Dr Ishrat Husain, Queen Maxima, the World Bank and the British High Commission.

thnak you nawaj sharif.

Thank you Bilawal .....

https://twitter.com/x/status/1348647596794011649

https://twitter.com/x/status/1348647601269305345

https://twitter.com/x/status/1348647605581078530