Raast milestone

Digital payments in Pakistan surge, with Raast hitting Rs1 trillion; cybersecurity is crucial.

The rapid surge in digital payments in Pakistan marks a significant milestone in the country's financial landscape. The SBP recently released data showing that in just 16 days, Pakistanis conducted financial transactions amounting to a staggering Rs1 trillion via Raast, an instant payment system backed by the central bank. The first Rs1 trillion milestone had taken 336 days after the system went online in February 2022.

Raast's biggest pluses are how it has improved the ease of transfers, especially across different banks and fintech platforms, while also expanding payment choices for customers and facilitating businesses in accepting digital payments through various channels. Another benefit is that Raast transactions do not carry the merchant fees attached to credit cards and other older digital payment platforms. The exponential growth of the platform also bodes well for the government's efforts to digitise the economy. By doing away with platform restrictions and working directly through users' bank accounts and phones, coupled with its realtime nature, Raast has made it almost impossible for any individual or business to refuse a digital transaction.

However, attention still needs to be paid to cybersecurity and public awareness, as making transactions easier can also make life easier for hackers and scammers. While Raast transactions themselves are quite secure, the data required for fraudsters and hackers to impersonate someone or otherwise defraud them is still relatively easily available. Thus the SBP, PTA, NITB, cellular service providers, banks and other financial service providers need to ensure the data of all users is secure, and that any errant transactions can be tracked and reversed or blocked, with minimum harm to victims. Only then will consumers gain the kind of universal confidence in digital transactions that they have in cold cash.