Raast Payment System has processed transactions of over Rs. 100 billion in the financial year 2021-22 (FY22), according to the Annual Payment Systems Report of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).
There were 15 million registered person-to-person (P2P) Raast users, carrying out 7.9 million transactions amounting to Rs. 102.1 billion in value as of end-June FY22. The bulk transaction on Raast System recorded 93,518 transactions of over Rs. 15 billion, the report said.
Raast enables payments among individuals, businesses, and other entities to settle transactions in real time. Raast first use case, bulk payment, went live in January 2021 with the disbursement of dividends via Central Depository Corporation (CDC). Raast second use case, person-to-person (P2P), went live in February 2022. P2P offers free transfers between two individuals instantly using a mobile number as their Raast ID or through IBAN.
Raast is Pakistan’s first instant payment system that is fully interoperable and enables end-to-end digital payments among individuals, businesses, and government entities in near real-time. It is used to settle small-value retail payments in real-time whilst at the same time providing cost-effective and universal access to all players in the financial industry, including banks and fintechs, thereby fostering innovation and competition.
The report also mentions that the number of mobile phone and internet banking users reached 8.4 million and 12.3 million respectively during FY22. In terms of transactions, mobile phone banking increased by 100.4 percent to 387.5 million, while internet banking grew by 51.7 percent to 141.7 million during the year. By value, mobile phone banking and internet banking growth was 141.1 percent and 81.1 percent, reaching Rs. 11.9 trillion and Rs. 10.2 trillion respectively.
E-commerce transactions also witnessed similar trends as the volume grew by 107.4 percent to 45.5 million and the value by 74.9 percent to Rs. 106 billion.
During FY22, a total of 32,958 POS machines were deployed in the country which led to an expansion of its network by 45.8 percent to 104,865. E-commerce merchants registered with the banks increased to 4,887 from 3,003 during this period.
ATM network in the country also grew by 4.8 percent during the year reaching 17,133 ATMs. The total number of transactions through POS, 137.5 million, were 54.5 percent higher than the previous fiscal year with transaction value reaching Rs. 0.7 trillion, a growth of 56.1 percent. A total of 692.3 million transactions were carried out through ATMs which amounted to Rs. 9.6 trillion, 19.2 percent higher than FY21. There were 42.4 million payment cards in circulation in FY22 including 71.1 percent or 30.16 million debit cards, 24.3 percent or 10.3 million social welfare cards, 4.2 percent or 1.79 million credit cards and the rest were pre-paid and ATM-only cards.
The number of large-value transactions through Real-Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) system of Pakistan reached 4.37 million by FY22 amounting to Rs. 681.6 trillion with an annual growth of 53.3 percent in value. During FY22, paper-based transactions declined by 1.0 percent in volume though its value grew to Rs. 190.4 trillion, almost 25.6 percent higher than last year.
Get the latest business news, market insights, and economic updates wherever you prefer.
Add ProPakistani to Preferred Sources and see more of our stories in Google Search and Top Stories.