KARACHI, : Pakistan’s Instant Payment System developed by the Central Bank Called “Raast” Which enabling Person-to-Person fund transfers in the country.
State Bank of Pakistan Said In a statement that “Raast “offers an instant, reliable and zero-cost digital payment system to the people of Pakistan. It believes that the launch of Raast P2P service will not only provide a convenient and hassle free digital fund transfer service to customers but will provide an efficient and enabling payments infrastructure that would pave the way for digitization of the economy and promotion of digital financial services in the country.
For customers’ facilitation, they can set their registered mobile phone number as their Raast ID and link it to their preferred International Bank Account Number (IBAN) using the bank’s mobile application, internet banking, or visiting their bank branch.Once a customer has set her/his mobile phone number as the Raast ID, others can send money to her/him using her/his mobile phone number without the need to know the account number or any other details. Bank customers can still use Raast service for sending or receiving funds using their IBANs even if they do not have a Raast ID or prefer to use their IBAN.
For facilitating banks in this regard, SBP will also offer free of cost Raast services to banks. Further, to facilitate their customers,
Banks shall not assign minimum transaction size. In general, banks shall allow maximum transaction limits of PKR 200,000 per transaction or higher depending on the bank’s assessment of the risk profile of the customer.For particular account types where the SBP has prescribed limits from time to time, the maximum transaction limit could be lower than PKR 200,000 per transaction. SBP has advised banks to provide a smooth, convenient and hassle-free user experience to their customers using Raast.
The banks complying with this new system included Summit Bank . Telenor MFB, Meezan Bank, Bank Al Habib, Habib Metro Bank, Bank of Punjab, Soneri Bank, Bank of Khyber , MCB Bank, HBL Microfinance Bank and Samba Bank and Dubai Islamic Bank.