Memo: How to Make Raast Grow Faster—Learning from Other Countries' Payment Systems

1. What Are Payment Systems and Why Do They Matter?

A payment system is a way for people, businesses, and governments to send money to each other. It includes all the steps and technology needed to make payments work, both digitally and with cash. A good payment system is important for a country because:

• Control: It lets a country manage its own money transfers without depending too much on other countries.
• Including Everyone: It helps people who don't have bank accounts to use financial services and be part of the economy.
• Making Things Easier: Digital payments are faster, safer, and cheaper than using cash all the time.

For countries like Pakistan where many people use cash, payment systems can change how people handle money by:

• Making it safer to pay for things without carrying cash.
• Allowing quick and secure payments for people who don't have bank accounts.
• Creating records of payments, which can help people and businesses get loans more easily.

2. Why Raast is Important for Pakistan

Raast is Pakistan's new way of making quick payments. It aims to help more people use digital money in a country where cash is common. Raast could change Pakistan's economy by making it easier for everyone to make digital payments. The main benefits are:

• Including More People: Raast can help millions of Pakistanis use banking services for the first time.
• Faster and Cheaper: It makes payments quicker and less expensive for people and businesses.
• Building Trust: As more people use Raast, they'll trust digital payments more and use less cash.

What Raast Can Learn from Other Countries

Two other countries, India (with UPI) and Brazil (with PIX), have successfully changed how people pay for things. Raast can learn from them:

• From UPI (India): UPI works well because it lets many banks and apps work together. This made it easy for people to start using it through popular apps.
  • Lesson for Raast: Work with banks, phone companies, and financial tech companies to make Raast easy to use in many apps.
• From PIX (Brazil): PIX became popular because it's easy to use and works all the time. The government also helped by making sure stores accept it.
  • Lesson for Raast: Make Raast simple to use and consider asking the government to encourage stores to accept it.