SBP Set to Launch PRISM Plus Across Pakistan Soon

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) is launching the Real-Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) and Central Securities Depository (CSD) system, PRISM+ w.e.f. June 16, 2025. The completion of this strategic project substantially upgrades the National Digital Payments Infrastructure as envisaged by the SBP in its Vision 2028. PRISM+ is built on the ISO 20022 financial messaging standard which supports structured and data-rich financial communication, enabling enhanced transparency, interoperability, and automation across the payment and settlement ecosystem. For settlement purposes, Transitory Accounts have been opened in the new system. At the start of each business day, the system will transfer 80% of balances from the Participants’ Current Account held with SBP BSC (Karachi) to their respective Transitory Accounts. To facilitate participants in managing their day-to-day liquidity, they will be able to transfer funds between their Current and Transitory Accounts at any time during business hours. Financial institutions can also allocate funds for ancillary clearings needs (e.g., Raast, NIFT, and 1Link). Accordingly, to mitigate systemic risks, participants are advised to maintain sufficient funds for their settlement needs on proactive basis. Financial institutions are also advised to ensure operational readiness for performing their Straight-Through Processing (STP) via PRISM+ through either the APIs or file adapters facility offered by the system. In order to facilitate the smooth transition of STP systems to the new MX format, PRISM+ will support both MT and the new MX (ISO 20022 XML) message formats up to September 30, 2025. Accordingly, the use of native MT/MX converter facility will be discontinued w.e.f. October 1, 2025. Financial institutions are advised to use Raast Over-the-Counter (OTC) facility for branch-initiated customer transactions that are presently being transferred using RTGS. Accordingly, all participants shall replace the RTGS OTC facility with Raast OTC in all their branches by September 30, 2025. Participants are advised to review and align their operational processes and frameworks to ensure seamless and efficient integration and adoption of the new system. Furthermore, it is advised to retain historical data of all transactions processed through PRISM+ and ensure its availability as and when required. Participants shall ensure that all communications pertaining to the system including technical documentation, user manuals, system advisories, and operational updates conveyed through PRISM+ Broadcast are implemented in a timely manner.