Prefunding PKR payouts in Pakistan
Prefunding payouts in Pakistan means holding PKR with a payout partner or a local settlement account before transfers are paid, so recipients are paid without waiting for funds to arrive. Payouts run over Raast and PRISM+ (RTGS). There are 15 weekday bank closures in Pakistan in the next 12 months to fund around. The rules and timings below are the ones that decide how much to hold and when to top up.
Funding rules and timing in Pakistan
- Where the beneficiary banks elsewhere, the bank receiving a home remittance must pass the funds to the beneficiary's bank within 24 hours of receipt at most, and that bank credits the account instantly; pay orders and demand drafts go out within 24 hours and cash over the counter is available instantly. A late credit entitles the beneficiary to 65 paisa per thousand rupees for each day of delay. source
- SBP and the Pakistan Remittance Initiative run a dedicated 'PRI Channel' built on direct bilateral arrangements between domestic and international financial institutions, a pre-funding requirement, API system-to-system integration and Pakistan's national payment infrastructure; banks, microfinance banks, exchange companies and branchless banking wallets can receive home remittances. source
- PRISM+, Pakistan's RTGS, runs only within SBP-designated business-day periods and cut-offs, and Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays notified by SBP are ordinarily non-business days. Since 30 September 2025 SBP has required banks to send branch-initiated customer transfers through Raast OTC instead of RTGS, and Raast is built for always-on retail payments. source
The rails that spend the prefund
| Rail | What matters for payouts | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Raast | Pakistan's instant payment system for low-value retail payments with instant settlement, open to commercial banks, microfinance banks, government entities and regulated fintechs (EMIs and PSPs) for always-on payment services. | source |
| PRISM+ (RTGS) | Large-value real-time gross settlement system, upgraded to the ISO 20022 standard as PRISM+, which went live on 16 June 2025 and was formally launched on 19 August 2025; it settled 6.3 million transactions worth PKR 1,566 trillion in FY26. | source |
Where the prefund sits
Money for Pakistan payouts is usually held with one or more of these, each a balance to watch. The full shortlist, with sources, is on the Pakistan payments stack page.
| Payout partners | dLocal, TerraPay, Thunes, Nium, JazzCash, Easypaisa |
| Local banking and settlement accounts | United Bank Limited (UBL), Bank Alfalah, JS Bank |
Bank closures to fund around
Weekdays in the next 12 months when banks in Pakistan are closed. Top up before each one.
| Date | Holiday | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Mon 9 Nov 2026 | Allama Iqbal Day | confirmed |
| Fri 25 Dec 2026 | Quaid-e-Azam Day / Christmas | confirmed |
| Fri 1 Jan 2027 | Bank holiday (closed for public dealing) | expected |
| Fri 5 Feb 2027 | Kashmir Solidarity Day | expected |
| Wed 10 Mar 2027 | Eid-ul-Fitr (day 1) | expected |
| Thu 11 Mar 2027 | Eid-ul-Fitr (day 2) | expected |
| Fri 12 Mar 2027 | Eid-ul-Fitr (day 3) | expected |
| Tue 23 Mar 2027 | Pakistan Day | expected |
| Mon 17 May 2027 | Eid-ul-Azha (day 1) | expected |
| Tue 18 May 2027 | Eid-ul-Azha (day 2) | expected |
| Wed 19 May 2027 | Eid-ul-Azha (day 3) | expected |
| Fri 28 May 2027 | Youm-e-Takbeer | expected |
| Mon 14 Jun 2027 | Ashura (9 Muharram) | expected |
| Tue 15 Jun 2027 | Ashura (10 Muharram) | expected |
| Thu 1 Jul 2027 | Bank holiday (closed for public dealing) | expected |
Full list and notes: Pakistan bank holidays.
Corridors into Pakistan
| Corridor | Average cost to send | Period |
|---|---|---|
| Australia to Pakistan | 1.77% | Q3 2025 |
| Canada to Pakistan | 4.73% | Q3 2025 |
| Qatar to Pakistan | 1.33% | Q3 2025 |
| Saudi Arabia to Pakistan | 5.02% | Q3 2025 |
| Singapore to Pakistan | 3.26% | Q3 2025 |
| UAE to Pakistan | 2.17% | Q3 2025 |
| United Kingdom to Pakistan | 2.39% | Q3 2025 |
| United States to Pakistan | 3.81% | Q3 2025 |
Costs are World Bank Remittance Prices Worldwide averages for sending the equivalent of US$200.
Size the prefund
Hold enough PKR to cover payouts for your lead time plus every closure in that window, then top up when runway drops below target. The corridor runway calculator does the arithmetic; the glossary explains prefunding, corridor runway and liquidity buffers.
Where Polynopsis fits
Polynopsis shows the PKR balance at every partner and account that funds Pakistan payouts, next to the payouts expected against it and the top-ups already in flight, and warns before the corridor runs dry, including ahead of Pakistan bank holidays.
Know where all your money is.
Polynopsis gives cross-border payment teams one live position across every bank, payout partner, exchange and wallet, including money in flight, and warns before a corridor runs dry.
About Polynopsis
Polynopsis is liquidity management software for cross-border payment companies. The name joins poly, many, and synopsis, a seeing together: one live view of money spread across many banks, payout partners, exchanges and stablecoin wallets, including money in flight, with a warning before any corridor runs dry.
Why it is called Polynopsis · About Polynopsis · Glossary · Corridor runway calculator