Raast Transfer Limit & Charges 2026: Free by SBP Order

Raast is the one payment rail in Pakistan where the price is set by law rather than by your bank: the State Bank ordered in writing that "banks shall not levy any charges on Raast related services", so every Raast transfer is free for the customer, from any bank or wallet, with no monthly quota. The catch people actually hit is not a fee, it is the limits, and those work differently than most people assume.

The charges: zero, and not out of generosity

The SBP's DI&SD Circular No. 1 of 2022 is the binding document. Banks and wallets are directed not to charge for Raast services, and the SBP itself provides Raast to the banks free of cost so there is no charge to pass on. This is why the Raast option in your banking app never shows a fee while the same app may warn you about IBFT charges.

Paying a shop through a Raast QR code costs the customer nothing either. Since late 2025 the government even subsidises the merchant's side of QR transactions, so neither end of a Raast payment carries a fee.

The limits: an SBP floor, then your bank's ceiling

The same circular sets the rule for limits: the per-transaction cap on Raast person-to-person payments "shall not be less than PKR 200,000 per transaction", or the limit that applies to your account type. So Rs 200,000 in one go is the minimum any full bank account must allow; a bank may permit more.

What actually stops most transfers is a different number: your bank app's own daily digital-transfer limit, which is usually adjustable in the app's settings and often set lower by default than what Raast allows. If a Rs 150,000 Raast transfer fails, the fix is almost always raising your daily limit in the app, not anything to do with Raast. HBL, for example, states a per-day Raast transfer limit of Rs 200,000 on its own Raast page; other banks set their own figures.

Wallets are the exception: EMI accounts like NayaPay and SadaPay follow the SBP's wallet tiers instead, so an upgraded NayaPay account tops out at Rs 200,000 of bank transfers per day. The full tier table is in the NayaPay fees and limits guide.

Raast vs IBFT: why the toggle in your app matters

The same transfer sent as plain IBFT can cost money where Raast is free. The SBP's IBFT rule gives you a free allowance of Rs 25,000 of outgoing interbank transfers per month per account; above that, banks may charge up to 0.1% of the amount or Rs 200, whichever is lower.

Practical rule: when your app offers both rails for a bank-to-bank transfer, pick Raast every time. There is no downside, and past Rs 25,000 in a month it is the difference between free and Rs 200 a transfer.

Raast ID: your mobile number becomes your account number

Registering a Raast ID links your mobile number to ONE account of your choosing; as Meezan Bank's own guide puts it, "your mobile number is now your account number". Two details people miss:

• Sending needs no registration. You can send to anyone's Raast ID or IBAN without ever registering your own.
• Receiving on your number does. Until you register, money sent to your mobile number has nowhere to land; senders would need your IBAN instead.

Registration is a two-minute job in any bank's app: find the Raast option, register your Raast ID, confirm the OTP. Moving the ID later is allowed: in HBL's wording, you can "de-link your Raast ID from your current bank account and can re-link that Raast ID with another bank account"; the number can only point at one account at a time.

Raast currently handles local transfers within Pakistan only. For what the wallets charge on the rails that are NOT free, see the EasyPaisa charges guide and JazzCash charges guide.