Pakistan Accelerates Digitalization Drive with Cashless Initiative Targeting Raast QRs and BISP Wallets

The federal government has moved to rapidly scale digital payments and public-service digitization under its “Cashless Pakistan” initiative, unveiling a detailed pre-Prime Minister briefing that sets clear short-term targets while laying out legal, technical, and communications steps to convert large swathes of government and everyday transactions to digital rails.

The confidential strategic roadmap, prepared ahead of a prime ministerial meeting on 31 October, highlights a string of recent operational wins and policy pushes: the rollout of Raast QR codes on utility bills and at retail merchants, the soft launch of 10 million BISP social-protection wallets, the operationalization of a Raast board, and a subsidy package to underwrite merchant fees.

The presentation reports that major utilities have begun printing Raast QR codes which includes 10 of 11 electricity distribution companies and the two largest gas distributors are now QR-enabled on consumer bills, with tens of thousands of bill payments recorded since the pilot phase. Authorities estimate the potential yearly collections addressed by these utilities run into the hundreds of billions of rupees.

On government disbursements, the report says 10 million BISP beneficiary accounts were created, and a coordinated distribution of free SIMs is under way to facilitate wallet onboarding. The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and Karandaaz are named as operational partners for merchant onboarding, technical integration, and awareness campaigns.

Institutional and regulatory moves

The roadmap outlines legal and enforcement steps to mandate QR acceptance nationwide. These include amendments to the Payment Systems and Electronic Fund Transfers Act, enabling local governments to enforce digital-payment availability and model provincial “Digital Payment Acts.” In the interim, the Capital Development Authority (CDA) and other local bodies have issued notifications mandating digital acceptance in their jurisdictions.

To lower infrastructure costs for private sector partners, federal agencies, including Pakistan Railways, NHA, and CDA, have already moved to abolish Right-of-Way (RoW) charges for internet infrastructure. Several provinces have followed suit or are in the process of doing so, a change designed to accelerate public Wi-Fi roll-out and private network expansion.

The plan sets quantifiable targets, which include raising financial inclusion from current levels toward 70%+, expanding active merchants to 2 million, and tracking progress through a newly proposed Digital Payments Index. SBP has operationalized a subsidy (initially PKR 3.5 billion per annum) to offset merchant MDR on Raast payments, and a regulatory sandbox has been launched to pilot inward-remittance tech, open banking, and remote merchant onboarding.

A 360° media strategy—combining paid and organic print, broadcast, SMS, caller-tunes, and influencer campaigns — is ready for deployment to normalize small everyday digital payments, promote trust, and tackle fraud-related myths, with special focus on women and rural users. The document also calls for third-party validation of the initiative and the engagement of a global firm to audit and validate progress.

Officials acknowledge implementation gaps and operational risks. Connectivity and IT readiness at district levels, integration of SAP/IFMIS with tax treasuries, and temporary allowances for paper claims during flood emergencies are flagged as near-term constraints. Several timelines — including full digitisation of certain use-cases and awarding of a validation contract — are tied to December 2025 milestones.

If delivered, the program would shift large volumes of government receipts and disbursements onto domestic payment rails, reduce cash leakage, and create a publicly accessible payments infrastructure. Success will depend on rapid merchant onboarding, reliable district-level IT, consumer trust building, and continuous oversight through the proposed third-party validation and the Digital Payments Index.

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