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Payments policy

Cashless Pakistan

Cashless Pakistan is the prime minister's initiative to move more of the country's payments out of cash and into documented digital channels. Its instruments are the State Bank's Raast instant-payment system, the Raast QR merchant discount rate scheme the Finance Division asked the central bank to prepare for approval in November 2026, and the dashboard indicators the federal government reviews through the Cashless Pakistan committee. This hub follows the steps of that programme: the merchant discount rate, the switch of Asaan Assignment Account payments to Raast from 16 November 2026, and the measures used to judge whether the drive is working.

2 reportsLatest 14 November 2026
A market in Islamabad with vendors and shoppers under a steel-roofed shed and a white tarpaulin canopy, with crates of melons, gourds and apples stacked along the stalls.

Latest development

14 November 2026
Newest report

Islamabad to go cashless by 31 December, with cash barred at government offices after 30 November

The government has set 31 December as the deadline for making Islamabad Pakistan's first fully cashless city, with cash ending at ICT and CDA departments after 30 November.

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A cloth shop in Khairpur, Sindh, with shelves of folded fabric stacked to the ceiling and the shopkeeper seated on the carpet beside the counter.Pakistan / Technology & Telecom

Finance Division directs SBP to prepare Raast QR merchant discount rate scheme

The Finance Division has told the State Bank to prepare a working paper for a Raast QR merchant discount rate scheme, a decision taken at the Cashless Pakistan committee.