Pakistan’s State Minister for Railways and Finance, Bilal Azhar Kayani, has directed the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) to prepare a working paper on the proposed Raast QR Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) scheme to support the expansion of digital payments across the country.
The directive was issued during a high-level follow-up meeting on the government’s Cashless Pakistan initiative at the Finance Division. The meeting reviewed progress on decisions taken by the Cashless Committee, chaired by the prime minister.
Officials and representatives from the public and private sectors discussed ways to improve the framework for the Raast QR scheme and strengthen the monitoring of digital transactions.
The minister said the government’s progress dashboard should record not only the volume and value of digital payments but also the number of unique users of digital accounts.
The discussion focused on refining the framework for Raast QR MDR scheme and on ensuring that the high-level Dashboard captures not only the volumes but also the values of key digital payment indicators, along with the number of unique account users.
The Committee deliberated on the direction and targets for expanding digital payments, in light of the significant progress made under the Prime Minister’s Cashless initiative, including:
• From November 16, all payments for Asaan Assignment Accounts across the country will be made through the Raast digital system; Drawing and Disbursing Officers (DDOs) have already been trained.
• Active merchants accepting digital payments have grown from 0.5 million to 2.03 million, attributable to the measures taken under the Cashless Pakistan initiative.
• Raast payment QR codes have been placed on all gas and electricity bills (over 45 million), enabling citizens to conveniently pay their bills digitally from home.
• All NADRA centers have been equipped with Raast QR, enabling citizens to pay for services digitally.
• The overall volume of digital payments in the country has doubled in just one year due to the measures taken by the PM’s Cashless Committee.
The minister also announced plans to meet the presidents and chief executives of banks in Karachi to discuss their role in promoting digital transactions and advancing the government’s cashless agenda.
The Minister of State also directed the State Bank of Pakistan to assess the inclusion of macroeconomic indicators, such as the ratio of payments processed through RTGS to GDP.
The Minister of State thanked all participants for their contributions and directed that coordination between public and private stakeholders be strengthened to achieve the targets of the Cashless Pakistan initiative.
