SBP Rolls Out Raast Participation Criteria to Expand Digital Payments Network

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has issued Raast Participation Criteria outlining minimum requirements for the entities desirous of becoming Raast participants and having the necessary functional and technical capabilities to provide digital payment services to their customers through Raast.

Raast is a state-of-the-art instant payment system launched by the SBP in 2021 to facilitate instant, safe and efficient transfer of funds across the country i.e. “instant payments – Pal Bhar Mein. Mulk Bhar Mein”.

Raast offers a bulk payment facility, person-to-person (P2P) transfers, person-to-merchant (P2M) payments, and payment initiation services. Since its launch, forty-four (44) entities including SBP Regulated and Government entities have been on-boarded on Raast as the participants.

To further enhance the usage of “Raast” for fostering digitization of the economy and enabling more and more individuals and businesses to conduct near real-time, efficient, and secure payment transactions, the “Raast Participation Criteria” have been developed for banking and non-banking institutions.

It will enhance the Raast accessibility for promoting digital payments, and stimulate innovation and competition in the payments market.

Entities Eligible for Raast Participation

The following entities are eligible for applying for Raast participation:

1. Banks and MFBs;
2. Non-bank financial institutions, including FMIs, regulated by SBP or SECP;
3. Federal or provincial governments or their agencies or departments or autonomous bodies;
4. Public Sector Entities (PSEs);
5. Corporates and other private sector entities including SMEs;
6. Business platforms, payment aggregators, educational institutions, incubators, Fintechs or any other service provider.

Entities that are under the licensing process with SBP and have valid in-principle approval are also eligible to apply for Raast participation.

Participant Categories Participant Categories

Access to Raast will be provided under four categories of participants:

1. Direct Settlement Participants
2. Direct Non-Settlement Participants
3. Payment Initiation Service Providers
4. Indirect Participants On-boarding Process:

• • i. Entities desirous of becoming DSPs, DNSPs, and PISPs of Raast may submit applications to SBP at [email protected].
  • Entities desirous of becoming IPs may directly approach REs which are DSPs or DNSPs of Raast.
  • After receipt of an application, SBP will advise the applicant to sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA). Upon receiving the signed NDA, SBP will share the Integration Specifications package with the respective applicants and assign a Relationship Officer for facilitation purposes.
  • The applicant shall review the Integration Specifications and sign the Participant Agreement within ten (10) working days.
  • After signing the participant agreement, the applicant shall:
    • Submit a detailed integration project plan with timelines and other details;
    • Complete the technical integration project and necessary setup as per the project plan and submit a detailed report to SBP.
  • Upon its satisfaction, SBP may grant conditional approval to the applicant to initiate pilot operations on Raast.
  • After the successful completion of the pilot phase, SBP will allow the participant to go[1]live commercially.
  • In case of unsatisfactory progress at any project stage, SBP reserves the right to terminate the participation process at its discretion.
  • On-boarding of an unregulated entity on Raast does not imply that SBP regulates the entity.

SBP envisages that the issuance of Raast Participation Criteria will facilitate the prospective participants in onboarding on Raast, significantly enhance the number of participants, promote digital payments, and encourage innovation and competition in the payments market.