Shops that accept Raast QR payments may soon get a formal merchant discount rate, the fee charged on each digital sale. The finance ministry has asked the State Bank of Pakistan to write the working paper that would let the scheme be approved.
The instruction came on 12 November at a Cashless Pakistan review in the Finance Division, chaired by Bilal Azhar Kayani, the Minister of State for Finance. Officials said merchants actively taking digital payments grew from 500,000 to 2.03 million, a fourfold jump, and that digital payment volume has doubled in a year.
The review looked at progress on the government’s Cashless Pakistan drive, which the Prime Minister launched and under which those merchant numbers grew, and at how the Raast QR fee framework could be improved.
The rate and the start date are both unsettled. The working paper comes before approval, so what a shopkeeper would pay is not yet known.
Some of what was announced touches everyday payments. Starting 16 November, Asaan Assignment Accounts will take all their payments through Raast. Gas and electricity customers will see a Raast QR code, from the State Bank’s instant payment system, on more than 45 million bills, and every NADRA centre is now set up to accept it.
A single dashboard is also planned to monitor how much money moves, how often, and how many separate users pay. Kayani will separately meet bank heads in Karachi about expanding digital services.
Two wallet firms, Easypaisa and JazzCash, attended with Bank Alfalah, JS Bank and Karandaaz Pakistan, as well as officials from the Finance Division, SBP, the IT ministry and NADRA.
