The State Bank of Pakistan has introduced a market-based rewards scheme that annually provides cash prizes totaling 16 billion rupees for Pakistanis living abroad who send money transfers through official banking channels. Recipients from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, including residents of the UAE, will receive half of the total prize pool.
This new initiative was launched by the Governor of the State Bank of Pakistan, Jamil Ahmad, and is fully funded by the Pakistan Banks Association and the banking sector. Annually, 16 billion rupees (equivalent to over 212 million dirhams) are offered as cash prizes to encourage Pakistanis to send funds home through official channels rather than unofficial routes. Since the funding is provided by the banking sector itself, it does not place a burden on the national treasury.
The UAE and the wider Gulf region stand to benefit most from this scheme. The distribution of prizes is as follows: 50 percent is allocated to GCC countries, 15 percent to the UK, 15 percent to Europe, 10 percent to North America, and 10 percent to other countries. However, the first prize is available to all eligible beneficiaries from any region.
To qualify for a prize, the beneficiary in Pakistan must receive a monthly transfer into a bank account of US$100 (or 367 dirhams) or more for three consecutive months within one quarter. Each US$100 transfer earns one digital, non-transferable entry. Larger transfers yield proportionally more entries; for example, transfers of US$100, US$200, and US$300 over three months will result in one, two, and three entries respectively, totaling six entries per quarter.
The first prize is worth 100 million rupees (1.3 million dirhams) and is awarded quarterly. The full prize structure for one quarter includes: First Prize—one prize of 100 million rupees; Second Prize—20 prizes of 25 million rupees each; Third Prize—100 prizes of 10 million rupees each; Fourth Prize—2400 prizes of 1 million rupees each. Thus, 2521 prizes are awarded quarterly totaling 4 billion rupees, amounting to 16 billion rupees annually among more than 10,000 winners.
The first draw is scheduled for January 15, 2027, and will cover transfers received between October 1 and December 31, 2026. Participation is completely free; no bank has the right to charge fees, demand payments, require ticket purchases, or impose minimum balances on beneficiaries.
The results of the draws will be published on the scheme's dedicated webpage (1link.net.pk/pasbanrewards), as well as on the websites and social media of participating banks and the PBA. Governor Ahmad linked this scheme to improving Pakistan's external account: foreign exchange reserves, which fell below $3 billion in February 2023, now stand at $21.4 billion, and worker remittances reached a record $41.6 billion in the 2026 fiscal year, compared to $21.7 billion in 2019. He described Pasban as a planned transition to a more sustainable, market-oriented model to maintain the attractiveness of official channels, relying on incentives for senders, which banks have been financing since July 2026.
