Pakistan's government will stop cheque payments through its Asaan Assignment Accounts on 15 November, switching all payments under those accounts to the Raast instant payment system from the following day.

The change was announced after a meeting on Friday at which Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif reviewed progress on the cashless economy. He told officials to bring him a dated plan for making every payment in the country digital, with timelines and targets — but gave no date for the roadmap itself.

What changes on 15 and 16 November

The timetable is fixed: cheques stop on the 15th and Raast takes over on the 16th. The officers who authorise and release money from these accounts have finished their training, and every ministry has been told to carry out the plan in full. The accounts are used by federal offices and departments, so suppliers and government agencies will feel the change.

Most government payments due to go digital by December

By December, most federal and provincial institutions are expected to be fully digital. Benazir Income Support Programme money already goes only to digital wallets, and officials are working on a method for areas without internet. Federal and provincial governments sent Rs1.6 trillion in direct payments through Raast between July 2025 and January 2026.

A drive running since last year

Sharif set up a high-level committee for the cashless economy in June 2025, and in July he ordered that money sent home from abroad be fully digitised. The government says the drive is meant to bring transparency to the economy, alongside tax reforms and a more efficient Federal Board of Revenue. For bill payers, the prime minister wants a media drive pointing customers to the QR code already printed on electricity and gas bills.