No—the State Bank of Pakistan’s official review says Raast reached PKR 1 trillion in transaction value in its first 336 days, not 16. Raast is Pakistan’s instant-payment infrastructure for transfers between people, businesses and government entities. The 16-day claim is not verified by the cited official figures, which report different milestones and periods.
Did Raast reach PKR 1 trillion in 16 days?
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) reported that Raast crossed PKR 1 trillion in transaction value during its first 336 days of operation. That is the official timeframe established by the cited historical review. It does not support the headline claim of 16 days. SBP’s Q3 FY24 Payment Systems Review also depicts later cumulative milestones and shorter intervals, but the available figures do not establish that a 16-day interval refers to the original PKR 1 trillion threshold.
It is therefore important not to treat “16 days” as a verified measure of how quickly Raast first reached PKR 1 trillion. A shorter interval associated with a later milestone would be a different claim.
What is Raast?
SBP describes Raast as “Pakistan’s national instant payment system, enabling end-to-end digital payments among individuals, businesses, and government entities in real time.” It is payment infrastructure used through financial institutions, rather than a separate consumer payment device. SBP’s Raast overview explains the system.
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How people and merchants use Raast
Person-to-person transfers
Raast’s person-to-person (P2P) service lets customers send or receive money using an IBAN or Raast ID. An SBP circular issued in 2022 says a customer could register a mobile number as a Raast ID linked to a bank account. The same circular instructed that Raast services and transactions be free for end customers. That is the policy stated in the 2022 circular; it should not be read as a guarantee that every current service or fee rule is unchanged. Read the 2022 SBP P2P circular.
Merchant payments
Raast also supports person-to-merchant (P2M) acceptance. SBP’s 2023 circular describes merchant payment options using QR codes, Raast Alias, IBAN and Request to Pay. These options extend the system beyond transfers between individuals. Read the 2023 SBP P2M circular.
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What the transaction figures measure
Raast’s reported numbers include both cumulative milestones and activity over defined reporting periods. They are not interchangeable: a cumulative threshold reached over a number of days is different from a fiscal-year total or a single-quarter total.
| Figure | What it measures | Source and period |
|---|---|---|
| PKR 1 trillion | Cumulative transaction value reached in Raast’s first 336 days | SBP, Q3 FY24 Payment Systems Review |
| 147.2 million transactions worth PKR 3,074.4 billion | Raast activity during FY23 | SBP, FY24 payment systems review |
| 496.1 million transactions worth PKR 11,558.3 billion | Raast activity during FY24 | SBP, FY24 payment systems review |
| 544 million transactions worth PKR 12.8 trillion | Raast activity during Q1 FY26, a single quarter | SBP, Q1 FY26 review announcement |
The figures for FY23 and FY24 are annual totals, while Q1 FY26 is a quarterly total. The 336-day figure is an early cumulative milestone, not an annual total. SBP’s FY24 payment systems review reports the fiscal-year figures, and SBP’s Q1 FY26 review announcement reports the quarterly figures.
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What these figures do—and do not—show
Transaction value tells you the total monetary value processed in the stated period or milestone. Transaction count tells you how many transactions took place. Neither figure, on its own, tells you how many distinct people used Raast, whether each transaction came from a different user, or whether every population group had access to the service. The cited totals establish payment activity, not its cause or how widely it was distributed among users.
These figures also do not provide a controlled comparison with another country’s national payment system, so they are not enough to rank Raast against other systems. To make a meaningful comparison, match the measure (value or count), time basis (cumulative milestone, quarter or fiscal year), payment use case and any applicable fee or limit policy.
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