# 484 | Ziyad Parekh: RAAST Will Change Every Online Payment in Pakistan!! | TBT

An episode of [Thought Behind Things](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1532974013), 17 Nov 2025, 2 h 20 min.

Audio: https://anchor.fm/s/36c5ffa4/podcast/play/111293794/https%3A%2F%2Fd3ctxlq1ktw2nl.cloudfront.net%2Fstaging%2F2025-10-17%2F412625518-44100-2-bada0f7bba496.mp3

In this episode of Thought Behind Things, we sit down with Ziyad Parekh, Co-Founder & CEO of Safepay, one of Pakistan’s most exciting fintech startups and a Y-Combinator backed startup. Ziyad shares how he went from Karachi to New York and why he left everything to return home and build Pakistan’s version of Stripe. We uncover how Safepay survived being taken to zero overnight, how they rebuilt with grit, and why they now process volumes comparable to giants like HBL. We Explore: • VISA/Mastercard charging Rs. 30 per transaction • Getting Investment From Stripe • Karachi's Poor infrastructure • How RAAST might change everything • And what the future of digital payments will look like Socials: TBT’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thoughtbehindthings/ TBT’s TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@tbtbymuzamil TBT’s Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thoughtbehindthings TBT Clips: https://www.youtube.com/@tbtpodcastclips Muzamil's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/muzamilhasan/ Muzamil's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/muzamilhasan/ Ziyad's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ziyad-parekh/ Endeavor's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/endeavor-pakistan Special thanks to Kickstart for providing us with the studio space. You can find out more about them at: https://kickstart.pk/ Credits: Executive Producer: Syed Muzamil Hasan Zaidi Associate Producer: Saad Shehryar Publisher: Talha Shaikh Editor: Jawad Sajid

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