Islamabad:Minister of State for Finance Bilal Azhar Kayani has instructed the State Bank of Pakistan to develop a working paper for the approval of the Raast QR Merchant Discount Rate scheme. This initiative aims to further enhance digital payment systems nationwide.

According to Radio Pakistan, the directives were issued during a follow-up meeting of the Cashless Pakistan Committee in Islamabad, where progress on the Prime Minister's cashless initiative was reviewed.

The meeting highlighted significant growth in digital payment adoption, noting an increase in active merchants from 0.5 million to 2.03 million. Additionally, it was revealed that the total volume of digital payments has doubled over the past year.

It was also noted that starting November 16, all payments for Asaan Assignment Accounts across Pakistan will be processed through the Raast digital system. The Minister of State has also tasked authorities with refining the Prime Minister's dashboard indicators to better capture the value and volume of digital payments, as well as the number of unique account users.