Pakistan

Building Trust in Raast Merchant Payments

Secure for users. Accountable for providers. Built to make RAAST as trusted as cash.

Scaling merchant payments on RAAST: a responsible pricing blueprint for Pakistan

Affordable for merchants. Sustainable for providers. Built for Pakistan’s instant payment system.

Beyond Access: From Accounts to Opportunity

The World Bank’s Global Findex 2025 is a scorecard on how well countries, across the globe are transitioning from cash toward equitable digital payments. Headline number shows that 79 percent of adults now own an account, up 28 points since 2011. Financial exclusion for women remains significant and many accounts remain inactive.

Our Work on Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI)

DPI, encompassing digital payments, identification, and data exchange, can significantly accelerate financial inclusion and economic growth. By enabling secure, scalable, and interoperable systems, DPI reduces costs, enhances security, and expands access to underserved populations.

Global engagement in scaling instant payments: insights, strategies, and trust building

Over the past few months, the Alliance facilitated a series of peer exchanges, bringing together the architects of some of the world’s most dynamic digital payment platforms—systems that process billions of transactions monthly, such as India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and Brazil’s rapidly evolving PIX.

Digital public infrastructure is transforming lives in Pakistan. Here's how

2023 Annual Report

Scaling responsible digital payments to deliver the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly financial equality for women

One single step can boost the GDP by 7%, create 4 million jobs: Report

Digital payments may help solve challenges

‘Digital payments can boost economy’

تجارتی ڈیجیٹلائزیشن رپورٹ:اقوام متحدہ پاکستانی جامع اقتصادی ترقی کی ایک اہم محرک

بیٹر دان کیش الائنس اپنی تازہ ترین رپورٹ پیش کرتا ہے، جس میں MSMEs کو سپورٹ کرنے اور پاکستان میں ڈیجیٹل ادائیگیوں کے ماحولیاتی نظام میں ان کی منتقلی کو فعال کرنے کے لیے سفارشات فراہم کی گئی ہیں۔

Merchant digitization emerges as one key driver for Pakistan’s inclusive economic growth in UN report

The Better Than Cash Alliance presents its most recent report, providing recommendations to support MSMEs and enable their transition into the digital payments ecosystem in Pakistan.

Realizing the Promise of Responsible Digital Payments for Merchants in Pakistan

The Better Than Cash Alliance, in support of its member, the Government of Pakistan, and the State Bank of Pakistan, presents Realizing the Promise of Responsible Digital Payments for Merchants in Pakistan. The report provides a series of recommendations aimed at supporting MSMEs and enabling their transition into the digital payments’ ecosystem.

Responsible Digital Payments for Women Merchants

Alliance’s work in action

Three key findings that show that financial equality is within reach in our lifetime

New data from the World Bank’s Global Findex Database 2021 confirms the centrality of digital payments in reaching financial equality for all. 

Opportunities for digital in Pakistan 

GSMA report estimates that mobile phone ecosystem contributes around $16.7 billion to the Pakistani economy. To enhance the impact of mobile-enabled digital transformation, it calls for improving digital financial inclusion and taking a whole of government approach to development.

Understanding merchant payments landscape 

A new Karandaaz study shows that around 95% of merchants in Pakistan do not accept digital payments. To promote adoption, it calls for creating awareness among users, better infrastructure, interoperability and reliability of services.

Distributed Ledger Technology: What Is It and Why Do We Care?

Blockchain Series: Blog 1…

Should graduation programmes replace the more conventional cash transfers? 

What comes after unconditional cash transfers? Does the inclusion of some form of graduation programs offer a more sustainable solution to poverty? Read this blog to learn more about the deb…

Mobile banking in the government-to-person payment sector for financial inclusion in Pakistan

Through an interpretive case study of the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) in Pakistan, this paper critically examines mobile banking usage by women beneficiaries and technology’s effects on the institutional properties of their households.