Business Desk 
Nov 18, 2024
In a bid to recompense the application of a massive Advance-to-Deposit Ratio (ADR) tax on them, Habib Bank Limited (HBL) and The Bank of Punjab (BOP) have also imposed monthly fees on high-value accounts (accounts holding over or up to a specified amount).
The HBL has enforced a 6% monthly fee on checking accounts whose balances will be Rs5 billion (or equivalent in case of FCY) or more on the month's last day. Regarding the foreign currency accounts, the bank will charge a full 3%.
On the other hand, BOP has announced to charge a straight 5% monthly fee on all conventional Savings Accounts whose balances will be Rs3bn or above (or equivalent in case of FCY) as of the last day of the month.
When will Pakistani banks' monthly fees be effective?
The amendment for the additional deduction of charges for high-balance accounts has been included in banks' existing schedule of charges for the period of July-December 2024, applicable from December 20, 2024.
According to ProPakistani, the surcharges on keeping huge amounts of money are driven by the federal government incurring a hefty 16% tax on banks with an ADR of less than 50%. Experts believe that the implementation of heavy ADR tax has triggered banks to go to any lengths to make amends for paying ADR tax.
Before the HBL and BOP, Bank Alfalah Limited last week was the first to impose a monthly fee on all checking accounts, setting a 5% monthly fee.
