CDC and EClear bring Raast payment requests and dynamic QR codes to the stock market
EClear Services will be the first institution in Pakistan's stock market to use two Raast tools, Request to Pay Later and dynamic QR codes. Their first stated use is collecting margin calls from investors.
The Central Depository Company of Pakistan (CDC) and EClear Services Limited announced on 26 October that EClear will become the first institution in Pakistan's stock market to adopt two payment tools on the State Bank of Pakistan's Raast system. They are Request to Pay Later and dynamic QR codes, and the first job the companies name for them is collecting margin calls.
Both tools are Raast person to merchant services, which until now were available only to general retail merchants. This is their first use in the capital market. They reach the capital market through CDC's Raast Aggregator framework, in which CDC acts as the bridge between Raast and stock market institutions so that each does not have to build its own connection.
How the tools work
Request to Pay Later lets a participating entity send a payment request that the customer can act on at a later time. A broker sends the request to an investor, who approves and pays from a banking app, and the broker no longer has to chase the transfer by hand. A dynamic QR code is a second way to start a payment. It carries the details of one transaction, rather than a fixed code reused for every payment.
Margin calls
A margin call is a demand that an investor deposit extra funds to keep a trading position open. The companies say the tools could automate debit and margin calls for the trading only brokers connected to EClear, in place of conventional ways of collecting the money. They present this as a way to streamline collection and reduce manual work.
Brokers often need funds from investors quickly, and delays are costly. A request that lands directly in the investor's banking app is meant to shorten that wait.
Checking the investor
CDC is also extending IBAN CNIC validation to the capital market. It is a Raast based service that links a bank account to a national ID number, which helps a broker confirm that the person paying is the registered investor and lowers the risk of fraud.
CDC's Raast record
CDC chief executive Badiuddin Akber said CDC was the first capital market institution to connect to Raast. Its first use case, in 2021, was bulk payments for its electronic dividend initiative. It has since extended Raast to mutual fund companies, stockbrokers and insurance companies, and it already offers person to person transfers and static QR codes to customers of capital market entities.
