Sending money from Australia to Pakistan: the payments stack
Sending AUD 200 from Australia to Pakistan cost 1.77% of the amount on average in Q3 2025, across 25 services in the World Bank's Remittance Prices Worldwide survey. Payouts in Pakistan typically run over Raast, PRISM+ (RTGS); between now and the end of 2027 there are 6 weekdays when banks in Australia are closed but Pakistan keeps paying out, so the payout balance has to be funded before them.
| Average cost to send | 1.77% of AUD 200 (Q3 2025, World Bank RPW) source |
| Money transfer operators | 1.77% across 25 services |
| Collect in Australia | NPP (Osko, PayID, PayTo), RITS Fast Settlement Service, RITS (RTGS), Direct entry (BECS) |
| Pay out in Pakistan | Raast, PRISM+ (RTGS) |
What it costs to send AUD 200
The World Bank surveyed 25 services sending from Australia to Pakistan from 20 August 2025 to 10 September 2025. The average total cost, fees plus the FX margin, was 1.77% of the amount sent; money transfer operators averaged 1.77%. source
Bank and operator averages are worked out from the survey's provider types.
The send side: Australia
- Remittance service providers and virtual asset service providers must both enrol with AUSTRAC and apply for registration through AUSTRAC Online, and cannot start providing remittance or virtual asset services until AUSTRAC approves the registration. source
- AUSTRAC registers independent remittance dealers, remittance network providers, remittance network provider affiliates and virtual asset service providers; AUSTRAC can take up to 90 days to assess an application, and the 90 days restart when it asks for more information. source
- Registration lasts 3 years; a renewal can be lodged from 90 days before expiry, and a registration that is not renewed lapses and is removed from the register. source
Licences, sponsor banks, collections, ramps and KYC providers: sending from Australia.
The payout side: Pakistan
| Payout partner | What it does in Pakistan | Source |
|---|---|---|
| dLocal · our guide | Payouts V3 pays out in Pakistan to bank accounts (bank code and IBAN) and, as instant payments, to mobile wallets including Easypaisa, JazzCash, NayaPay and SadaPay, for B2C, B2B and P2P flows. | source |
| TerraPay · our guide | Its network page lists Pakistan as a receive market with PKR payouts to both wallets and bank accounts. | source |
| Thunes · our guide | Its money transfer API supports PKR direct bank transfers to Pakistan over IBFT and RTGS. | source |
| Nium · our guide | Pays PKR to all banks in Pakistan in real time 24x7 for amounts up to PKR 1 million (same day above that, subject to a 16:00 local cut-off) and to JazzCash, Easypaisa and SadaPay wallets in real time, up to PKR 50,000 per wallet payout. | source |
| JazzCash | Mobile wallet that receives international remittances sent through exchange houses or partner apps directly into the JazzCash account, with funds typically credited instantly. | source |
| Easypaisa | Mobile wallet endpoint: funds from abroad reach easypaisa accounts through Bank Alfalah's international remittance partners. | source |
Licensing, local banks, stablecoin ramps, FX and KYC in Pakistan: launching payments in Pakistan.
Payout rails in Pakistan
| Rail | Operator | What matters for payouts | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Raast | Raast Payments Pakistan (Private) Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of the State Bank of Pakistan | 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) | State Bank of Pakistan | 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 |
Holiday gaps to plan for, to December 2027
Weekdays when one side of the corridor is closed. On the 6 dates when Australia is closed and Pakistan is open, the payout balance has to already hold enough to cover them. On the 13 dates when Pakistan is closed, instant rails may still pay out.
| Date | Australia | Pakistan | What it means |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mon 9 Nov 2026 | Open | Allama Iqbal Day | Pakistan banks closed: only always-on rails pay out |
| Fri 25 Dec 2026 | Christmas Day | Quaid-e-Azam Day / Christmas | Both closed |
| Mon 28 Dec 2026 | Additional day for Boxing Day | Open | Prefund Pakistan the day before: no funding from Australia, payouts continue |
| Fri 1 Jan 2027 | New Year's Day | Bank holiday (closed for public dealing) | Both closed |
| Tue 26 Jan 2027 | Australia Day | Open | Prefund Pakistan the day before: no funding from Australia, payouts continue |
| Fri 5 Feb 2027 | Open | Kashmir Solidarity Day | Pakistan banks closed: only always-on rails pay out |
| Wed 10 Mar 2027 | Open | Eid-ul-Fitr (day 1) | Pakistan banks closed: only always-on rails pay out |
| Thu 11 Mar 2027 | Open | Eid-ul-Fitr (day 2) | Pakistan banks closed: only always-on rails pay out |
| Fri 12 Mar 2027 | Open | Eid-ul-Fitr (day 3) | Pakistan banks closed: only always-on rails pay out |
| Tue 23 Mar 2027 | Open | Pakistan Day | Pakistan banks closed: only always-on rails pay out |
| Fri 26 Mar 2027 | Good Friday | Open | Prefund Pakistan the day before: no funding from Australia, payouts continue |
| Mon 29 Mar 2027 | Easter Monday | Open | Prefund Pakistan the day before: no funding from Australia, payouts continue |
| Mon 17 May 2027 | Open | Eid-ul-Azha (day 1) | Pakistan banks closed: only always-on rails pay out |
| Tue 18 May 2027 | Open | Eid-ul-Azha (day 2) | Pakistan banks closed: only always-on rails pay out |
| Wed 19 May 2027 | Open | Eid-ul-Azha (day 3) | Pakistan banks closed: only always-on rails pay out |
| Fri 28 May 2027 | Open | Youm-e-Takbeer | Pakistan banks closed: only always-on rails pay out |
| Mon 14 Jun 2027 | King's Birthday | Ashura (9 Muharram) | Both closed |
| Tue 15 Jun 2027 | Open | Ashura (10 Muharram) | Pakistan banks closed: only always-on rails pay out |
| Thu 1 Jul 2027 | Open | Bank holiday (closed for public dealing) | Pakistan banks closed: only always-on rails pay out |
| Tue 9 Nov 2027 | Open | Allama Iqbal Day | Pakistan banks closed: only always-on rails pay out |
| Mon 27 Dec 2027 | Additional day for Christmas Day | Open | Prefund Pakistan the day before: no funding from Australia, payouts continue |
| Tue 28 Dec 2027 | Additional day for Boxing Day | Open | Prefund Pakistan the day before: no funding from Australia, payouts continue |
Full calendars: Australia and Pakistan. Size the buffer with the corridor runway calculator.
Funding the corridor
- NPP payments settle in the Fast Settlement Service 24 hours a day on every day of the year, so AUD collections can arrive on weekends and holidays. source
- All other RITS settlement runs only on days when banks are open in Sydney or Melbourne, from 7:30 am to 10:00 pm AEST/AEDT, and closes on weekends and on New Year's Day, Australia Day, Good Friday, Easter Monday, Anzac Day, the King's Birthday, Christmas Day and Boxing Day where observed in NSW and Victoria. source
- 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
Running the corridor
Polynopsis shows every balance on both sides of this corridor in one live position: the collection accounts in Australia, the payout partners and banks in Pakistan and any stablecoin in between. It warns before the Pakistan balance runs dry, holidays included. See how it works.
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to send money from Australia to Pakistan?
The World Bank's survey put the average total cost of sending AUD 200 at 1.77% in Q3 2025, across 25 services. Money transfer operators averaged 1.77%.
Which rails pay out in Pakistan?
Local payouts run over Raast, PRISM+ (RTGS).
When do I need to prefund Pakistan payouts ahead of holidays?
Between now and December 2027 there are 6 weekdays when Australia is closed and Pakistan is open, the first on Mon 28 Dec 2026. The payout balance has to cover those days before they start.
Related corridors
Sources
- World Bank, Remittance Prices Worldwide dataset · World Bank
- RITS Business Hours · Reserve Bank of Australia
- Public and Bank Holidays 2026 · Reserve Bank of Australia
- Public holidays in Pakistan 2026 revealed (Cabinet Division notification) · Daily Pakistan
- PSX notice PSX/N-89: holidays for 2026 · Pakistan Stock Exchange
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