P@SHA’s Policy and Government Affairs team presents a comprehensive policy paper examining the fintech boom in Pakistan and the pivotal role of Raast, the country’s instant payment system. This paper emerges from a multi-stakeholder Policy Roundtable convened during ITCN Asia 2025 in Karachi, bringing together representatives from the State Bank of Pakistan, commercial banks, fintech startups, investors, and academia. The discussion centered on accelerating Raast’s transformation from a person-to-person transfer network into a complete digital commerce platform. While Raast has facilitated over PKR 9.5 trillion in transactions since launch, merchant adoption remains below 2% of total retail digital payments. The roundtable identified critical barriers including weak merchant onboarding processes, lack of QR enablement in banking apps, structural disincentives, and hidden fees. The paper proposes coordinated policy reforms across regulatory enforcement, fiscal incentives, and operational innovation to unlock Raast’s full potential as the backbone of Pakistan’s digital economy and financial inclusion.