Islamabad, Oct 15: SBP Extends RAAST Payment System to Provincial Accountant Generals
According to the central bank’s “Annual Payment Review” report, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) department is prepared to integrate the provincial chapters of Accountant Generals’ payment systems into the RAAST payment system in Punjab, Baluchistan, and Gilgit-Baltistan.
According to the report, the onboarding process for Accountant General Baluchistan, Accountant General Punjab, and Accountant General Gilgit-Baltistan on RAAST has been finished, and the payment processing is scheduled to begin shortly.
Since the RAAST payment system was successfully implemented at the federal level by Accountant General Pakistan Revenues (AGPR), progress has been made. AGPR has been implemented on RAAST to handle their payrolls, vendor payments, General Provident Funds, and advances-related payments during the first phase of RAAST Bulk Payments.
In FY24, AGPR handled 850,000 transactions totaling Rs. 100.0 billion, making it the largest processor of bulk payments. These transactions accounted for almost 90% of AGPR payments. Additionally, the Central Directorate of National Savings (CDNS) has been integrated into the RAAST system to handle coupon payments and encashment services.
A total of 496.1 million transactions worth Rs. 11,558.3 billion were processed through RAAST during the same period, according to the SBP report.
The payment disbursements under the Benazir Income Support Program to be processed via RAAST are also under consideration. Projects of onboarding FBR for duty drawback and Controller Naval Accounts for salary and pension disbursements are also in the works.
There were 147.2 million transactions in FY23, the previous year, with a total value of Rs. 3,074.4 billion in FY24. The ISO-20022-based rapid payment system RAAST is opening doors for more people to accept digital payments. The RAAST person-to-person (P2P) use case provides a free means of transferring money between people.
IBAN or RAAST ID can be used to transfer money using an online banking portal or mobile banking app. SBP has now introduced an interoperable RAAST P2M solution to help companies and merchants accept digital payments.
Businesses utilizing Request to Pay (RTP), RAAST Alias, IBAN, and Quick Response (QR) Codes will be able to accept payments through the P2M service. Pakistani merchant and company transaction digitalization is expected to pick up speed thanks to the RAAST P2M service.
