Pakistan Payments

Pakistan is one of the world’s most under-covered digital payment growth stories. The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has executed a coordinated digitalisation push since 2019, and the results are now landing: Raast — the SBP’s directly-operated instant payment rail launched in January 2021 — reached 48 million users in 2025, processing PKR 50 trillion across roughly 2 billion transactions. The mobile wallet layer is the deepest in South Asia outside India, with 80+ million active wallet accounts dominated by JazzCash (Jazz/Veon-owned, 40M+ users) and EasyPaisa (Telenor/Alipay-owned, 35M+ active users). Card penetration remains low at around 25%, but cards are not where Pakistan’s payment story is being decided.

The structural story is dual rails. Like Kenya (telco-led M-Pesa) or Bangladesh (telco-led bKash), Pakistan’s wallets predate the bank-led instant rail by nearly a decade — JazzCash and EasyPaisa built agent networks under Branchless Banking regulations from 2010 onwards and reached the unbanked consumer first. Unlike Kenya, Pakistan added a bank-led layer (Raast) that has scaled in parallel rather than displacing the wallets. The result: telco wallets handle cash-in/cash-out and unbanked flows via agent networks; Raast handles account-to-account transfers between banked users; cards remain a minor share. For operators with Pakistani volume, both layers need integration — the wallets for consumer-facing reach, Raast for direct bank-account flows.

Real-time payments — Raast

Raast is Pakistan’s instant payment system, launched by the State Bank of Pakistan in January 2021 and fully owned and operated by SBP (no industry consortium intermediary). Settlement is final within seconds 24/7, and Raast is integrated into all commercial Pakistani banks under SBP mandate — there is no opt-out for participating banks. Beneficiaries are identified by account number, mobile number (registered as a Raast Alias), CNIC (Computerised National Identity Card number), or IBAN.

Adoption to date: The rollout sequence has been P2P (live since 2021), P2B/merchant (rolling out 2023+), and G2P/government-to-person disbursements (in progress). By 2025, Raast has reached 48 million users processing PKR 50 trillion across nearly 2 billion transactions — a substantial share of Pakistan’s digital payment volume in just four years.

The zero-cost mandate. SBP has set Raast P2P fees to zero for both consumers and participating banks — there is no transaction fee, no MDR, and no inter-bank settlement charge for P2P transfers. This is the structural lever driving adoption: Raast is the cheapest digital payment method available in Pakistan by a wide margin, and the SBP-set pricing prevents banks from layering on fees. P2B (merchant) pricing has been allowed but capped, with merchant rates significantly below typical card MDR.

For operators: Raast acceptance is the standard for digital payment processing in Pakistan as of 2025. Integration is available via Raast-connected PSPs (PayFast, Safepay, NayaPay) and via the mobile wallets that have integrated Raast as an underlying rail (JazzCash, EasyPaisa). For merchant payments specifically, ask the PSP about their Raast P2B rollout status — some integrations are still building out merchant flows beyond P2P.

Mobile wallets — JazzCash and EasyPaisa duopoly

Pakistan’s mobile wallet market is dominated by two telco-led players that together hold more than 80 million active wallet accounts:

• JazzCash (Jazz/Veon Pakistan): Over 40 million users. Operates as a Payment System Operator (PSO) under SBP supervision. Built on Jazz’s mobile telco subscriber base, JazzCash has one of Pakistan’s largest cash-in/cash-out agent networks. Product offering: P2P transfers, bill payments, mobile top-up, merchant acceptance, lending, and a “Wallet to Bank” Raast bridge.
• EasyPaisa (Telenor Pakistan, with Alipay/Ant Group strategic stake): Over 35 million active users. Also operates as a PSO. Telenor’s first-mover advantage (EasyPaisa launched in 2009) and Ant Group’s technology partnership have made it a sophisticated digital wallet competitive with regional peers. Now operates a full digital bank (EasyPaisa Digital Bank) alongside the wallet.

Why telco wallets dominate alongside Raast: the agent network advantage. JazzCash has hundreds of thousands of cash-in/cash-out agents across Pakistan, including remote rural areas. For consumers without bank accounts (still a meaningful share of Pakistani adults), the wallet-plus-agent model is the access point — Raast is irrelevant if you don’t have a bank account. As Pakistani banking penetration grows under SBP’s National Payment Systems Strategy, Raast share is expected to grow at the expense of cash-out demand — but the agent networks themselves remain valuable infrastructure.

For operators: integration with both JazzCash and EasyPaisa is standard for consumer-facing merchants in Pakistan. Both offer API and POS acceptance via their PSO licences. The agent networks are also useful for B2B disbursement use cases — payroll for unbanked workers, marketplace seller payouts to consumers without bank accounts.

Cards — small share, growing slowly

Pakistan’s card market is structurally smaller than its wallet and instant-rail markets. Card penetration sits around 25% of adults, with Visa and Mastercard handling international flows and 1Link Guarantee (P) Limited operating the domestic ATM and card switch. 1Link enables interoperability between Pakistani bank-issued cards, similar to 1LINK or Meeza in Egypt or Mada in Saudi Arabia.

MDR for Pakistani card transactions runs 1.5-3.0% for credit and 0.5-1.5% for debit, with 1Link-routed domestic transactions at the lower end. Cards are most commonly used for higher-value e-commerce, international purchases, and travel — not for daily retail payment, which is dominated by wallets and Raast.

For foreign-issued cards (international consumers), Visa and Mastercard processing via Pakistani acquirers is straightforward but more limited in PSP support than for domestic methods.

E-commerce — wallets, Raast, and cash on delivery

Pakistani e-commerce remains heavily cash-on-delivery (COD) in the consumer mid-market — a structural carryover from the cash-first economy that has shifted toward digital but not fully transitioned. The mix in 2024 (rough estimates):

• Wallets (JazzCash + EasyPaisa): ~30-40% of digital e-commerce
• Raast (where merchant integration is live): Rising fast, ~10-15%
• Cards (Visa/MC/1Link): ~15-20%
• COD: Still 30%+ in some categories (groceries, apparel, smaller cities)

For operators entering Pakistani e-commerce: COD support remains commercially significant in lower-tier cities, and consumer preference shifts toward digital are happening but not yet at the level of mature markets. Pakistani consumers also have meaningful preference for paying via wallet rather than card — the operational integration priority is JazzCash + EasyPaisa first, Raast second, cards third.

Crypto and digital assets

Pakistan has not formalised a crypto-asset regulatory framework. The SBP has historically maintained a restrictive posture on cryptocurrency, with periodic advisories against trading. Some legislative motion toward a formal framework has been signalled, but as of 2026 there is no licensed crypto-asset service provider regime. Operators with crypto-on-ramp ambitions in Pakistan should treat the regulatory environment as restrictive and consult local counsel.

Regulator and licensing — SBP and SECP

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) is the prudential regulator for banking and payment activity. The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) regulates non-banking financial activities, including some fintech consumer credit. The relevant SBP licensing categories:

• Electronic Money Institution (EMI) — for stored-value product issuers (the digital wallet companies and digital banks operate under this category)
• Payment System Operator (PSO) — for entities operating payment infrastructure (JazzCash, EasyPaisa hold PSO licences)
• Payment Service Provider (PSP) — for payment gateways and acquirers (PayFast, Safepay, NayaPay)
• Branchless Banking — older regulatory framework predating EMI rules; some wallets retain hybrid Branchless Banking + EMI status
• Digital Bank Licence — newer SBP framework introduced 2022 for digital-only banks; recipients include Mashreq Neo Pakistan, Telenor Microfinance Bank (EasyPaisa), and others

Direct SBP licensing timelines run 12-18 months with documentation-intensive processes (business plan, three-year financials, AML/CFT programmes, governance). Foreign-owned entities can hold SBP licences subject to Pakistani company registration and capital requirements.

The practical entry route for most foreign operators is partnership with a licensed local PSP (PayFast, Safepay) for card and Raast acceptance, plus direct API integration with JazzCash and EasyPaisa for wallet acceptance. Regional acquirers like Checkout.com have more limited Pakistani capability than in MENA markets.

PSP coverage

Pakistan’s PSP market is dominated by local players, with limited direct presence from international acquirers:

• PayFast (Pakistani PSP, no relation to South African PayFast): Local gateway providing Raast, card, and wallet acceptance
• Safepay (Pakistani PSP): SME and mid-market acceptance, simpler integration model
• NayaPay (Pakistani digital bank + payments platform): Modern API-first acquirer with combined banking
• JazzCash, EasyPaisa (as PSOs): Direct integration via their merchant APIs
• Easypay (Pakistan-based gateway, distinct from EasyPaisa): SME card acceptance
• Checkout.com — limited but available for enterprise clients with regional MENA + South Asia presence
• Stripe — limited direct Pakistani acquiring; better suited for cross-border SaaS billing than domestic e-commerce

For operators choosing acquirers: the local-deep route is PayFast or NayaPay; the SME route is Safepay; for wallet acceptance, direct integration with JazzCash and EasyPaisa is the standard. Raast support varies by PSP — confirm explicitly before integration.

For India cross-border comparison (UPI vs Raast architecture), the Indian guide covers a structurally similar zero-MDR mandate playbook executed under a different governance model (NPCI as consortium vs SBP as central bank operator). For mobile-money-led African markets, Kenya — covering M-Pesa — shows what happens when the wallet layer dominates and a separate bank-led rail is less prominent.