KARACHI: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Tuesday withdrew transactional limits of payments made through Raast System i.e. Raast Person-to-Person (P2P) Payment System.
The SBP issued Circular No. 02 dated March 15, 2022 and stated that to further facilitate users of Raast services it has been decided that with effect from April 1, 2022, there will be no transactional limits on Raast system by SBP.
Banks/MFBs/EMIs may however set, in their system Raast transaction limits for their customers based on their risk profile in compliance with the relevant Anti-Money Laundering (AML)/Counter Financing of Terrorism (CFT) requirements.
Further, through previous Circular No. 01 dated February 03, 2022, in terms of para 3 (f) of the circular, customer transaction limits for Raast payments shall not be less than Rs.200,000/- per transaction or the transaction limits applicable as per the account type and prescribed by SBP from time to time.
The aggregate customer limit assigned to Raast payments shall not be less than the Interbank Fund Transfer (IBFT) limit, the SBP said.
The aggregate limit shall be communicated to the customers and available transaction limit shall be shown in their mobile apps/internet banking portals.
Banks/MFBs/EMIs shall ensure that above mentioned technical as well as operational arrangements and readiness are in place not later than March 21, 2022.
Banks/MFBs/EMIs shall ensure strict compliance with PSD Circular No. 01 of 2021 by providing their customers with the option to increase or decrease the transaction limits by using their mobile apps/internet banking portals, no later than April 10, 2022, the SBP said.
It is reiterated that Banks/MFBs/EMIs shall put in place robust internal controls and strong risk mitigants to prevent fraudulent activities, misuse/abuse of the transaction limits and risks related to the safety and security of Raast system at their end.
The central bank has implemented Pakistan’s Instant Payment System “Raast” to offer instant, reliable and free person-to-person payment services to the people of Pakistan with the objective of promoting digital financial services and financial inclusion.
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The first phase of the system, “Raast – Bulk Payments”, was launched on January 11, 2021 and is live since then.
The second phase of Raast, which enables instant Person-to-Person (P2P) fund transfers and settlement is also launched.
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Customers would be able to send and receive funds using either their International Bank Account Number (IBAN) or their Raast ID. Initially customers would be able to use their registered mobile numbers as their Raast ID and link it to any of their bank account for conveniently receiving funds.
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