SBP Launches Rs16 Billion Pasban Lottery to Pull Remittances Through Banks

State Bank of Pakistan Governor Jameel Ahmad launched the Pasban Remittance Reward Scheme on September 25, 2026 — a Rs16 billion annual cash-prize program designed to nudge overseas Pakistanis toward sending money home through banks rather than informal channels like hundi and hawala.

How the scheme works

Any bank account that receives home remittances of at least $100 a month for three consecutive months within a quarter is automatically entered into that quarter's draw — there's no form to fill out or separate registration required. Each quarter, 2,521 cash prizes worth a combined Rs4 billion go out: one first prize of Rs100 million, 20 second prizes of Rs25 million each, 100 third prizes of Rs10 million each, and 2,400 fourth prizes of Rs1 million each. Draws are run quarterly through what the SBP describes as a secure, fully digital and auditable process.

The scheme takes effect October 1, 2026. The first qualifying period runs from October 1 to December 31, 2026, with the first draw scheduled for January 15, 2027.

Who's actually paying for it

Unlike past incentive schemes, Pasban is fully funded by the banking industry through the Pakistan Banks Association (PBA), not the federal budget. Governor Ahmad framed it at the launch as a joint effort between the central bank, the government and the PBA to build a "self-sustaining and market-oriented" remittance incentive — a deliberate contrast with schemes that relied on public subsidy.

Pasban replaces two older programs that were both discontinued from July 1, 2026: the Sohni Dharti Remittance Programme and the Telegraphic Transfer Charges Incentive Scheme, which had offered fee waivers and smaller cash incentives funded differently.

Why the timing matters

The launch comes days after Pakistan reported that remittances for July-August climbed 14.7% year-on-year to $7.3 billion, helping push total liquid foreign reserves to a six-year high, as we covered separately. A lottery-style incentive layered on top of that growth is a bet that reward psychology, not just convenience, can keep shifting the remaining share of remittances that still move through informal, undocumented channels into the formal banking system — where they count toward official reserves and are trackable for anti-money-laundering purposes.

It also lands in the same week Pakistani and IMF officials are meeting in Karachi for the fourth EFF review, which we've covered in detail — reserve accumulation and current account performance are both metrics the Fund tracks closely, and remittances are the single largest inflow keeping both moving in the right direction.

What to watch

The real test is nine months out: whether the first draw in January 2027 actually pays out to real account holders on schedule, and whether formal-channel remittance volumes show a measurable bump once the scheme's existence becomes widely known among the Pakistani diaspora, rather than just among people already banking formally.

Build Better Pakistan's Economy Desk covers the policies shaping remittances, reserves and the rupee.