Launching payments in Pakistan: the stack

By Polynopsis team · Last updated 28 October 2026

Paying out in Pakistan means delivering rupees through an SBP-regulated bank, microfinance bank or exchange company that holds a home remittance arrangement with the foreign sender, over channels such as SBP's prefunded PRI Channel that credit bank accounts and mobile wallets, with Raast providing always-on instant settlement for retail payments. Cross-border payment companies typically pair a payout network such as dLocal, Thunes, TerraPay or Nium, or a direct tie-up with banks such as UBL or Bank Alfalah, with JazzCash and Easypaisa wallet reach, NADRA-based identity checks and the interbank market for rupee conversion; stablecoin ramps need a PVARA licence under the Virtual Assets Act, 2026.

Currency	PKR
Local payout rails	Raast, PRISM+ (RTGS)
Holiday calendar	Pakistan bank holidays 2026 and 2027

The Pakistan market

Pakistan received US$40.48 billion in personal remittances in 2025, equal to 9.9% of GDP, up from US$34.91 billion in 2024 (World Bank data, last updated 8 October 2026). source
Workers' remittances reached a record US$41.6 billion in FY26 (July 2025 to June 2026), up 8.6% from US$38.3 billion in FY25. In June 2026 the largest corridors were Saudi Arabia (US$829.6 million), the United Arab Emirates (US$792.2 million), the United Kingdom (US$514.9 million) and the United States (US$296.8 million). source
Raast processed 2,755.2 million transactions worth PKR 80,050.8 billion in FY26 (provisional), up from 1,276.0 million transactions worth PKR 29,564.1 billion in FY25, and had 49.2 million registered P2P IDs and 3.6 million merchants on Raast P2M aliases. source
Digital channels carried more than 92% of Pakistan's 14.3 billion retail payment transactions in FY26, up from 88% in FY25, and 38% of retail payment value, up from 29%. source
Sending SAR 750 from Saudi Arabia to Pakistan cost 5.02% on average in Q3 2025 (average fee SAR 26.60, exchange rate margin 1.47%), the latest quarter published on the World Bank's Remittance Prices Worldwide. source
In September 2026 the banking industry, under the Pakistan Banks Association and with SBP's patronage, launched the Pasban Remittance Reward Scheme, funded entirely by banks, with Rs16 billion in annual cash prizes for beneficiaries who receive home remittances of US$100 or more into a bank account in each of three consecutive months; the first quarterly draw is set for 15 January 2027. source

Licensing: who can pay out in Pakistan

Inward home remittances are paid by SBP-regulated Authorised Dealers (banks), and banks must send drafts of all home remittance agreements with entities inside or outside Pakistan to SBP's Exchange Policy Department, which can comment while responsibility for safeguarding the bank's interest stays with the bank (Foreign Exchange Manual, Chapter 10). source
Exchange companies are authorised under Section 3AA of the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, 1947, need SBP's prior approval before starting inward home remittance operations, and must hold paid-up capital of PKR 1 billion, with shortfalls closed to PKR 600 million by 31 December 2025, PKR 800 million by 31 December 2026 and PKR 1 billion by 31 December 2027. source
An exchange company can only contract with a foreign MTO that is registered and supervised by its own regulator, and the agreement must provide for payment of home remittances in PKR only, with all funds received in advance in the company's foreign currency accounts with banks in Pakistan. source
SBP discontinued the Telegraphic Transfer Charges Incentive Scheme with effect from 1 July 2026; Authorised Dealers must keep running it at their own end so that home remittances meeting the scheme's criteria stay free of cost for senders and beneficiaries. source
Under the Virtual Assets Act, 2026 every virtual asset service provider must be a company incorporated in Pakistan holding a PVARA licence for each service category. The Pakistan Virtual Asset Services Regulations, 2026, notified on 21 August 2026, set minimum paid-up capital of PKR 500 million for exchange services and PKR 200 million for transfer and settlement services, and PVARA states that a No Objection Certificate does not constitute a licence. source

This page explains the rules in general terms and is not legal or regulatory advice. Check the primary source and take advice on how the rules apply to your firm.

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

The Pakistan payments stack, layer by layer

The providers below are a starting shortlist for each layer, described from their own documentation. Confirm terms, coverage and licences with each provider.

Payout and collection partners

Provider	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

Local banking and settlement accounts

Provider	What it does in Pakistan	Source
United Bank Limited (UBL)	UBL Tezraftaar remittance service lists connectivity with more than 100 money transfer exchange houses and financial institutions, with business and customer service teams working 24/7.	source
Bank Alfalah	Launched inward remittances in Pakistan under J.P. Morgan Payments' Xpedite Remit service in November 2023, bringing real-time processing to inward remittance flows.	source
JS Bank	Partnered exclusively with Instant Cash, part of the FINTX portfolio, in April 2025 to launch JS GharPay, a door-to-door home remittance delivery service in Pakistan.	source

FX and liquidity

Provider	What it does in Pakistan	Source
SBP interbank USD/PKR rates	SBP publishes a daily USD/PKR M2M revaluation rate and weighted average interbank rates; the M2M revaluation rate was 276.8118 on 26 October 2026.	source
Authorised Dealer banks	Inward remittances face no restrictions: Authorised Dealers can freely purchase telegraphic and mail transfers, drafts and bills payable in foreign currencies, or drawn in rupees on banks' non-resident rupee accounts.	source
Exchange companies (interbank surrender)	Exchange companies must sell 100% of the foreign currency received for inward home remittances, in US dollar equivalent, in the interbank market on the same day, and keep their foreign exchange exposure within 50% of minimum capital.	source

KYC and KYB providers

Provider	What it does in Pakistan	Source
NADRA identity verification	NADRA's verification services for public and private sector clients include BIOSYS, which matches fingerprints and a photograph against the CNIC, Verisys for consent-based (OTP) checks of CNIC, NICOP and POC numbers, and an API-based batch biometric service.	source
Shufti	Verifies CNIC, Smart CNIC, NICOP and Pakistani passports, supports SECP-registered business checks and NTN validation for KYB, and runs AML screening.	source
uqudo	Verifies Pakistani CNICs issued by NADRA, passports and driving licences with AI document scanning, tampering detection and face recognition with passive liveness.	source

Funding and prefunding PKR payouts

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

Size the prefund to your runway target with the corridor runway calculator and the Pakistan holiday calendar.

Launch checklist

Plan: launch volume, the prefund sized to your runway target including weekends and holidays, the contracting entity and the funding route.
Open accounts: shortlist payout partners and a local banking route from the layers above, and prepare the onboarding pack.
Set up: read access to every new balance, a runway target with alerts, and the corridor in your daily reports.
Go live: the first prefund and a test payout, then daily monitoring.

Polynopsis turns this into one plan with named approvals, then shows every Pakistan partner, bank and wallet in one live position. See how a corridor launch works.

Frequently asked questions

Who can pay out a home remittance in Pakistan?

SBP-regulated banks, microfinance banks and exchange companies, with branchless banking wallets also allowed to receive home remittances. Exchange companies need SBP's prior approval before starting inward home remittance operations and can only pay in PKR.

How fast must a Pakistani bank credit a remittance?

A bank receiving a remittance for an account at another bank must pass the funds on within 24 hours at most, and the beneficiary's bank credits them instantly; cash over the counter must be available instantly. Late credits earn the beneficiary 65 paisa per thousand rupees per day of delay.

Is the telegraphic transfer charges incentive still running?

SBP discontinued the scheme from 1 July 2026, but banks must keep eligible home remittances free for senders and beneficiaries at their own cost. A bank-funded prize scheme, Pasban, starts quarterly draws on 15 January 2027.

Is there a licensed stablecoin ramp in Pakistan?

Under the Virtual Assets Act, 2026, a virtual asset service provider needs a PVARA licence for each service, and PVARA states that its No Objection Certificates are not licences. Exchange services require PKR 500 million in paid-up capital.

When do Pakistan's payment rails run?

Raast is built for always-on retail payments with instant settlement, and since 30 September 2025 SBP has required banks to route branch-initiated customer transfers through Raast OTC. PRISM+ (RTGS) runs within SBP-designated business-day periods, with Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays ordinarily non-business days.

Other markets

Sources

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.

Book a demo →Learn more →