Karachi, June 12, 2025 – In a major stride towards modernizing Pakistan’s financial ecosystem, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has officially announced the launch of its upgraded Real-Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) and Central Securities Depository (CSD) system, named PRISM+, effective June 16, 2025.
This strategic initiative is a flagship component of SBP’s Vision 2028, aimed at enhancing efficiency, transparency, and resilience in the national payments infrastructure.
The newly introduced PRISM+ system represents a substantial technological leap from its predecessor. It is developed using the ISO 20022 financial messaging standard, which brings enriched data structures, standardized protocols, and improved interoperability across financial platforms. With its advanced design, PRISM+ enhances the scope of real-time settlements, offering features like liquidity optimization tools, transaction queuing, prioritization, future payment scheduling, and a web-based module for real-time transaction initiation, approval, and monitoring.
Additionally, PRISM+ provides a robust CSD platform, supporting government securities auctions, secondary market trading, collateral management, and open market operations. Participants can now utilize customizable dashboards, automated alerts, and detailed query tools. This enables more effective management of settlement positions and overall liquidity.
In preparation for daily settlement, SBP has created Transitory Accounts within PRISM+. These accounts will automatically receive 80% of each participant’s Current Account balance from SBP BSC (Karachi) at the start of every business day. Participants will have the flexibility to transfer funds between their Current and Transitory Accounts during working hours, as well as allocate funds to ancillary services such as Raast, NIFT, and 1Link.
To support Straight-Through Processing (STP), SBP urges all participants to ensure operational readiness through either API-based or file adapter integration with PRISM+. Both legacy MT and new MX (ISO 20022 XML) message formats will be supported until September 30, 2025. The built-in MT/MX converter facility will be discontinued starting October 1, 2025.
Furthermore, the SBP has directed participants to transition to Raast Over-the-Counter (OTC) services for customer-initiated branch transactions, replacing RTGS-based OTC by the same deadline.
Participants must retain historical transaction data and comply with operational and technical advisories shared via the PRISM+ Broadcast system. Any non-compliance with SBP directives may lead to suspension of system access or regulatory action.
With the launch of PRISM+, SBP reaffirms its commitment to building a future-ready digital financial landscape for Pakistan.