PRISM+ Powers Pakistan’s Next Digital Leap

This week, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) launched PRISM+, the future Pakistan Real-Time Interbank Settlement Mechanism, a giant leap in the country’s financial infrastructure. In his address to the ceremony, SBP Governor Jameel Ahmad underscored how PRISM+, developed atop the advanced ISO 20022 messaging standard, introduces historic levels of automation, interoperability, and transparency to retail and large-value payments. With the critical support of the World Bank, Pakistan is now one of the countries embracing common global messaging standards on all its payment systems.

PRISM+ redefines liquidity management with features such as real-time queuing, transaction priority setting, future-dated scheduling of payments, and direct tie-ins with the Central Securities Depository (CSD) for auctions, repos, and market operations. The current PRISM system, which was earlier facilitating more than Rs 1,043 trillion in transactions, equivalent to ten times the nation’s GDP, has demonstrated its critical importance for the banking and business fraternity. With PRISM+, the SBP is not only updating technology, it’s unifying a strategic asset which will enhance financial stability, drive digital innovation, and position Pakistan for a prosperous, inclusive, digitally empowered economic tomorrow.