Best options for bank accounts in Pakistan?

[KingKhanWC]

Im in Pakistan atm & want to open a bank account here.

Im planning to visit more regularly now so instead of bringing cash with me, would prefer to transfer money from my UK account.


If anyone can advise which bank is the most reputable, has most branches, provides best service etc?

Thanks

 

[Greenstorm]

HBL is the largest bank here with the most branches.

 

[KingKhanWC]

HBL is the largest bank here with the most branches.

. Will the NICOP Card & passport be suffiecient to open an account ?

 

[Greenstorm]

. Will the NICOP Card & passport be suffiecient to open an account ?

No idea bro. They asked for an additional document like 'copy of the student card' along with CNIC card in my case. They have overseas branches as well so you should check out their website.

 

[zeusathon]

HBL sucks. Do not go for it. Banks like HBL, Askari and NBP are only expanding because of their contacts with state institutions. For example, NUST made it compulsory for us to open HBL account for all sort of transactions. My previous university and current workplace are backed by Askari.

If you want to open an account. Go for either Standard Chartered or UBL while Alfalah as third and Faysal as fourth option.

When I desired to move my Soneri account last year, I found Standard Chartered bit too annoying regarding formalities. They wanted lakhs of initial deposit, loads of paperwork. UBL on the other hand was very flexible. They were being awarded as the best Pakistani bank for two years so I went with them. Since I make regular online purchases, their addon WizCard is much helpful for that.

Faysals online banking is pure torture. They will bomb you with tons of questions/verifications for a single login even on your own pc.

Alfalahs portal is relatively easier but got lesser options as compared to others.

SCB got the most matured online portal, however I still find UBL portal lot more flexible.

Also, all the other banks require manual activation of internet purchase session except for SCB, while few banks share seperate card for internet. I opted for seperate UBL card because it was safer for transaction over suspicious sites.

 

[Mian]

I will recommend UBL their online services are the best in Pak! they got many many branches in Pak and also a few in UK

 

[Slog]

Youll be good with UBL, Standard chartered or HBL

HBL is most active and present even in rural areas so if you will be outside cities then def get that

 

[KingKhanWC]

Thanks all

Ill go for HBL as my main concern will be withdrawing money from ATM.

 

[srh]

Im in Pakistan atm & want to open a bank account here.

Im planning to visit more regularly now so instead of bringing cash with me, would prefer to transfer money from my UK account.


If anyone can advise which bank is the most reputable, has most branches, provides best service etc?

Thanks

Try Meezan bank or Faisal bank for islamic banking.

 

[KingKhanWC]

Try Meezan bank or Faisal bank for islamic banking.

Might just open two then as a big fan of islamic banking. Thanks

 

[saeed5646]

Where ever you will be staying in pakistan you should ask few people about which bank have best atm service which will suite you

For example here people are saying ubl is best but it sucks in my city and have terrible atm .so you should take advice where you will use atm more frequently

 

[SarfiBabarHaris]

Will recommend Standard Chartered or UBL.

And btw on carrying cash thing, you can use your non-Pakistani debit card and can make transactions up to 20,000 PKr from any Standard Chartered ATM. One transaction costs Rs 500 that is the downside though. So for example you want to take 1 Lac Pkr out you have to do 5 transactions which will cost you 2500 Pak Rs as transaction cost. Next time when you are in Pak you can try this too and yes open a bank account too if you want

 

[zeusathon]

Where ever you will be staying in pakistan you should ask few people about which bank have best atm service which will suite you

For example here people are saying ubl is best but it sucks in my city and have terrible atm .so you should take advice where you will use atm more frequently

Where do you live? Hardly heard anyone complaining about their ATMs although HBL is more on the coverage side.

 

[zeusathon]

Will recommend Standard Chartered or UBL.

And btw on carrying cash thing, you can use your non-Pakistani debit card and can make transactions up to 20,000 PKr from any Standard Chartered ATM. One transaction costs Rs 500 that is the downside though. So for example you want to take 1 Lac Pkr out you have to do 5 transactions which will cost you 2500 Pak Rs as transaction cost. Next time when you are in Pak you can try this too and yes open a bank account too if you want

Limit is higher for my UBL.

 

[saeed5646]

Where do you live? Hardly heard anyone complaining about their ATMs although HBL is more on the coverage side.

kpk haripur hazara

ubl atm and their bank service is not impressive as compare to al habib bank and kyber bank in our city

 

[Torpedo]

can anyone advise which one is the easiest to open with if you only have a nicop card with a foreign passport?

 

[Major]

I would say UBL is a great bank because of its online system.

many banks offer Visa Debit cards which dont even work online. Ubl visa debit cards do work online.

But, before you open your account, check in Pakistan which branch is nearer to your home, because alot of your problems are dealt at the branch where you opened your account.

Refrain from opening your account at branches located in the main saddar or downtown. Open your account at a quiet neighborhood.

 

[zeusathon]

kpk haripur hazara

ubl atm and their bank service is not impressive as compare to al habib bank and kyber bank in our city

Never been there, but in Punjab and Karachi UBL is among the best.

 

[saadibaba]

My dad used to work for UBL. Good to see positive reviews about it on this thread. I still have very vivid memories of driving down in our chauffeur driven car on I.I.Chundrigar Road to the UBL head office. Zooming round and round in the large parking lot building looking for parking. Going to my Dad's quite expansive and plush office. His secretary acting all nice and friendly to me. Sitting there in his office on the plush sofa on the side, watching him wearing his standard but neat suit and tie going through numerous files on his desk as his secretary stood attentively by his side, taking notes and answering questions. Him answering phones forwarded to him by the secretary and meeting people in his office, some warmly some less so. It was hard to escape the aura of authority and prestige hanging over that room. Now here I am, probably making 10 times more than my Dad would have made even in his top most rank of SEVP at UBL and I can only dream of such pomp and luxury.

 

[Slim]

UBL has awful online banking. SCB is a way to go followed by HBL, ABL etc.

 

[Slog]

My dad used to work for UBL. Good to see positive reviews about it on this thread. I still have very vivid memories of driving down in our chauffeur driven car on I.I.Chundrigar Road to the UBL head office. Zooming round and round in the large parking lot building looking for parking. Going to my Dad's quite expansive and plush office. His secretary acting all nice and friendly to me. Sitting there in his office on the plush sofa on the side, watching him wearing his standard but neat suit and tie going through numerous files on his desk as his secretary stood attentively by his side, taking notes and answering questions. Him answering phones forwarded to him by the secretary and meeting people in his office, some warmly some less so. It was hard to escape the aura of authority and prestige hanging over that room. Now here I am, probably making 10 times more than my Dad would have made even in his top most rank of SEVP at UBL and I can only dream of such pomp and luxury.

They got a shiny new building recent as well

 

[zeusathon]

UBL has awful online banking. SCB is a way to go followed by HBL, ABL etc.

HBL/ABL? Never.
UBL's been the smoothest for me.
SCB is best but they are bit too naging with formalities and stuff.

 

[Itachi]

How many banks does Pakistan have?

 

[zeusathon]

How many banks does Pakistan have?

Around dozen that I know.

 

[zeusathon]

How many banks does Pakistan have?

My dad used to work for UBL. Good to see positive reviews about it on this thread. I still have very vivid memories of driving down in our chauffeur driven car on I.I.Chundrigar Road to the UBL head office. Zooming round and round in the large parking lot building looking for parking. Going to my Dad's quite expansive and plush office. His secretary acting all nice and friendly to me. Sitting there in his office on the plush sofa on the side, watching him wearing his standard but neat suit and tie going through numerous files on his desk as his secretary stood attentively by his side, taking notes and answering questions. Him answering phones forwarded to him by the secretary and meeting people in his office, some warmly some less so. It was hard to escape the aura of authority and prestige hanging over that room. Now here I am, probably making 10 times more than my Dad would have made even in his top most rank of SEVP at UBL and I can only dream of such pomp and luxury.

Story of most banks. But the thing which worries me is that UBL is charging nothing for their services. How do they make their profit.

 

[Itachi]

What I found interesting here is, people are posting arguments for one particular banks featuring some services which are pretty basic even for India.... For example online banking, debit card transactions online etc. Are the system in banking is not well equipped enough?

 

[zeusathon]

What I found interesting here is, people are posting arguments for one particular banks featuring some services which are pretty basic even for India.... For example online banking, debit card transactions online etc. Are the system in banking is not well equipped enough?

Its still very bothersome to make online purchases using DC/CC. Online Banking is very much obvious for all national bank atleast (minus few govt banks who are made for long queues and pension cheques).