PM Khan Launches ‘Raast’ P2P Digital Instant Payment System

Prime Minister Imran has launched the second phase of Raast, called the Person-to-Person Digital Instant Payment System in a ceremony held in Islamabad on Tuesday. Raast is a flagship initiative of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), which provides a payment system platform that enables various types of transactions among different stakeholders such as organization, businesses and persons.

In the first phase of Raast, launched in January 2021, transactions from organizations to person, generally referred to as Bulk Payments, was enabled. The second phase of the initiative is aimed at facilitating the underbanked society, specifically people who are afraid of going to banks and help them make transactions through their mobile phones.

Raast is an initiative aimed to promote digitization and financial inclusion in the country. Speaking at the launch ceremony, Prime Minister Imran Khan said the country’s population can be turned into a real asset by bringing them in the formal economy through process of digitization.

He added that it would be a burden if the country did not take advantage of technological advancements as most of the population is still outside the formal economy. The premier said that ‘Raast Digital Instant Payment System’ will facilitate people to conduct monetary transactions through their smartphones, adding that new technology will help improve the savings rate and tax-to-GDP ratio as well.

Prime Minister Imran Khan reaffirmed his commitment to lift the masses out of poverty and said that Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) will use the new technology to trace those who are not paying taxes regardless of their lavish lifestyle. Furthermore, he instructed the central bank to establish a special cell in order to facilitate overseas Pakistanis, terming them as the country’s “biggest assets.”

Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin, who termed Raast Digital Instant Payment System “a revolution in digital banking,” adding that it will help promote e-commerce and IT-related exports. The minister appreciated the SBP for the progress made in digitization and expressed his confidence that the forthcoming phases of Raast including payment to merchant will play an important role in facilitating the masses in their financial transaction thus increasing their valuable contribution in the economy.

Governor SBP Dr. Reza Baqir highlighted the key features of Raast at the launch event, explaining that individuals can use this platform in their transactions just like cash and they will not have to pay any fees or charges for using this payment system. He asked the people to fully utilize the system for their payments as it is completely risk free compared to cash.

Raast is easy and simple to use as it allows connecting bank account to user’s mobile number, called Raast ID. The facility can be used on mobile apps and internet banking portals of banks. For those people who do not have a mobile phone or facility of internet banking, Raast P2P Digital Instant Payment System will also be available in bank branches.

Read more: Dollar Rate in Pakistan (Daily Updates).

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