By Muskan Naveed ISLAMABAD, March 24 (INP-WealthPK): The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has launched the second phase of Raast — the country’s first instant payment platform which enables peer-to-peer fund transfer and settlement services. Raast is a major step towards digital revolution in the FinTech sphere of the country, as it is designed to boost digital adoption by increasing the ease of use of financial services, reports WealthPK. Pakistan is considered an emerging market for financial technology with increasing mobile phone and internet users and a young population with strong preferences for the social media and internet use. However, blank spaces are also widespread on the country's digital front. Owing to various socio-economic issues, a huge chunk of 220 million population is unbanked. 21% of the adult population – mostly women – is not under the formal banking system of the country. This pose a challenge to the digital landscape of the country in the form of informal economy, which is estimated to be almost half the size of the formal $263 billion economy. The black economy hampers growth prospects and financial inclusion is considered a viable channel for tackling this problem. Financial technology is quickly gaining traction, as the integration of financial services with technology deepens. Pakistan has doubled its efforts on the digital adoption and financial inclusion front, as the State Bank of Pakistan launched its flagship initiative, Raast, geared to become the premier FinTech platform of the country. The platform has been launched with the goal to promote financial inclusion. Raast is Pakistan’s first instant payment system launched by the central bank. The platform is designed for instantaneous and zero-cost transactions aimed at boosting digital adoption. The first stage of Raast was initiated in January 2021, which enabled bulk payments. Now, the next stage gives the platform peer-to-peer transaction capabilities. Raast peer-to-peer fund transfer and settlement services will empower users to utilize their respective banks' applications, internet banking services or over-the-counter services to send and receive funds. Raast is different from Inter-Bank Funds Transfer services because it is geared towards increasing the ease of use of digital financial services. Raast ID is all that is required for transactions and it can be a phone number, email address or any other parameter desired. Currently, around 20 leading banks support Raast with seven more in the pipeline. As an initiative of the country’s central bank, Raast is more secure than many other similar solutions. However, Raast and other digital payment platforms still have a long way to go, as they are rooted essentially in the traditional banking practices. Raast in itself enables transactions but through a conventional bank and its services. Nonetheless, the commitment of the central bank towards digital inclusion and adoption through the support of other FinTech platforms paints a rosy picture for the digital front of the country.