Sending money from Qatar to Pakistan: the payments stack
Sending QAR 730 from Qatar to Pakistan cost 1.33% of the amount on average in Q3 2025, across 6 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 4 weekdays when banks in Qatar are closed but Pakistan keeps paying out, so the payout balance has to be funded before them.
| Average cost to send | 1.33% of QAR 730 (Q3 2025, World Bank RPW) source |
| Money transfer operators | 1.38% across 5 services |
| Banks | 1.06% across 1 services |
| Collect in Qatar | Fawran (Instant Payment System), QA-RTGS, Tahweel, Qatar Mobile Payment (QMP), QPAY (Electronic Payment Gateway) |
| Pay out in Pakistan | Raast, PRISM+ (RTGS) |
What it costs to send QAR 730
The World Bank surveyed 6 services sending from Qatar to Pakistan from 17 August 2025 to 24 August 2025. The average total cost, fees plus the FX margin, was 1.33% of the amount sent; money transfer operators averaged 1.38% and banks 1.06%. source
Bank and operator averages are worked out from the survey's provider types.
The send side: Qatar
- The Payment Services Regulation entered into force on 15 September 2021 and requires a QCB licence for e-money issuance, merchant acquisition, domestic money transfer and other payment services with a clear payments nexus. source
- No payment service provider can contract with anyone in or outside Qatar to provide cross-border money transfer unless it holds a QCB exchange house licence; providers licensed for e-money and domestic transfer can let customers remit from e-money accounts through licensed exchange houses or local banks. source
- Licensees that hold customer money (Category I: e-money or merchant acquisition) need capital of QR 2 million, QR 5 million or QR 10 million for fewer than 500,000, 500,000 to 1 million, or more than 1 million transactions a month, or 2% of average outstanding e-money and acquired merchant transactions over the preceding 90 days if higher; licensees that hold no customer money (Category II) need QR 2 million. source
Licences, sponsor banks, collections, ramps and KYC providers: sending from Qatar.
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 4 dates when Qatar is closed and Pakistan is open, the payout balance has to already hold enough to cover them. On the 11 dates when Pakistan is closed, instant rails may still pay out.
| Date | Qatar | Pakistan | What it means |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mon 9 Nov 2026 | Open | Allama Iqbal Day | Pakistan banks closed: only always-on rails pay out |
| Fri 18 Dec 2026 | Qatar National Day | Open | Prefund Pakistan the day before: no funding from Qatar, payouts continue |
| Fri 25 Dec 2026 | Open | Quaid-e-Azam Day / Christmas | Pakistan banks closed: only always-on rails pay out |
| Fri 1 Jan 2027 | Year-end closing holiday | Bank holiday (closed for public dealing) | Both closed |
| Fri 5 Feb 2027 | Open | Kashmir Solidarity Day | Pakistan banks closed: only always-on rails pay out |
| Tue 9 Feb 2027 | National Sport Day | Open | Prefund Pakistan the day before: no funding from Qatar, payouts continue |
| Mon 8 Mar 2027 | Bank bridge day or first Eid al-Fitr day (possible) | Open | Prefund Pakistan the day before: no funding from Qatar, payouts continue |
| Tue 9 Mar 2027 | Eid al-Fitr holiday for banks | Open | Prefund Pakistan the day before: no funding from Qatar, payouts continue |
| Wed 10 Mar 2027 | Eid al-Fitr holiday for banks | Eid-ul-Fitr (day 1) | Both closed |
| Thu 11 Mar 2027 | Eid al-Fitr holiday for banks (possible third day) | Eid-ul-Fitr (day 2) | Both closed |
| 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 |
| Mon 17 May 2027 | Eid al-Adha holiday for banks | Eid-ul-Azha (day 1) | Both closed |
| Tue 18 May 2027 | Eid al-Adha holiday for banks | Eid-ul-Azha (day 2) | Both closed |
| 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 | Open | Ashura (9 Muharram) | Pakistan banks closed: only always-on rails pay out |
| 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 |
Full calendars: Qatar and Pakistan. Size the buffer with the corridor runway calculator.
Funding the corridor
- Working days in Qatar are Sunday to Thursday, with Friday and Saturday as the weekly holiday (Emiri Decision No. 57 of 2025). source
- Official State holidays are National Day on 18 December, Sports Day on the second Tuesday of February, Eid al-Fitr from 28 Ramadan to the end of 4 Shawwal and Eid al-Adha from 9 to the end of 13 Dhu al-Hijjah; these Eid ranges apply to ministries and public bodies, while banks follow Eid dates set by the QCB Governor. 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 Qatar, 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 Qatar to Pakistan?
The World Bank's survey put the average total cost of sending QAR 730 at 1.33% in Q3 2025, across 6 services. Money transfer operators averaged 1.38%.
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 4 weekdays when Qatar is closed and Pakistan is open, the first on Fri 18 Dec 2026. The payout balance has to cover those days before they start.
Related corridors
Sources
- World Bank, Remittance Prices Worldwide dataset · World Bank
- Amiri Decision No. 57 of 2025 on the determination of working days, occasions and official holidays · Lexis Middle East
- Official Gazette publishes Amiri Decision No. 57 of 2025 (Articles 1 to 4) · Al Arab
- 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