Fintech in Pakistan: Over-Regulated, Under-Banked, and Full of Opportunity Raast is on pace to move roughly $500 billion in 2026 — more than Pakistan's entire GDP — while an estimated 100 million adults remain underbanked and a startup wanting to hold customer money still needs PKR 100 to 500 million in capital and up to 18 months of licensing before it can find out if anyone wants its product.

Abstract

Raast, the State Bank of Pakistan's instant payment rail, is on track to process more than Rs140 trillion — roughly $500 billion — in transactions during 2026, according to Raast Payments Pakistan CEO Ahson Saeed. That figure exceeds the size of Pakistan's entire economy. The system already moves 10 to 11 million transactions a day, digital channels now account for 92 percent of all retail payment volume nationwide, and the government is routing welfare disbursements, military pensions, and savings payouts through it on an accelerated timeline. By any measure, Pakistan has built one of the more genuinely impressive pieces of digital public payments infrastructure in South Asia.