goods and bads Roshan Digital Account ???

[Imran Khan]

Few things that you won't find out from official web pages etc, and things that the banks are hiding too:

• MCB bank has a monthly fee, although very small but still no other bank that I know of is charging any monthly fee. On top of that their representatives either don't know about that monthly fee or just lie that there's no fee. See #1 below.
• HBL is the ONLY bank that is sending CDC account opening request physically by mail, while all other banks send CDC request electronically. Hence HBL takes well over a month to open CDC account.
• HBL and MCB's bank's RDA representatives have pathetic communication, English, and email writing skills. They often lie in your face. And keep bugging you to send them money. See #2 below.
• Forms are poorly designed, they send you forms to sign forms where there's no place to sign.
• Instructions they send you are often unclear. Especially if you haven't been in touch with ways of office work in Pakistan in a long time and have forgotten the system there, you'll be scratching your head.
• They use lots of abbreviations that you may know only if you are in touch of Pakistani official banking language. If you grew up abroad then you may struggle to understand.
• Terminology used in banks abroad may mean something else Pakistani banks. e.g. the word "Beneficiary" is understood different by RDA reps.
• If you are half the world across, like in North America, then banks' web portals may take over a minute to load on every link you click. Especially MCB was the slowest so far.
• If you are in Americas, RDA reps will call you in middle of the night while you are sleeping. Like 3AM, 4AM etc.
• There is 10% withholding tax on Naya Pakistan Certs (double check, I may have this one incorrect), 15% capital gain tax for tax-filer, 30% cap-gain tax for non-tax-filer. 15% tax on dividends.
• No information available on tax receipts to show foreign countries' tax agency that you already paid taxes in Pakistan. So you "may" or may not have to pay taxes again once you repatriate you money.

#1 - MCB's monthly fee officially posted. But they keep telling you there's no monthly fee.

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#2 - examples of communication skills of RDA reps:

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i was planning to invest but yesterday i have changed mind and bought a shop

 

[darksider]

Sounds like bad IT and Business processes of the banks, nothing to do with the initiative.

Banks dont trained thier staff for products they launch.
Even bank staff dont know about full product information.it is normal behaviour in Pakistan.

 

[Invicta]

I have one question, In my country of stay, I have my own bank account. If now I have roshan digital account and I want to transfer money from my bank account to Roshan digital account, will there be extra charges?

Yes you will if you transfer between banks say if I were to transfer between by bank in the UK to my Roshan account there are charges and the exchange rate is lower by 3-4 Rs from market rate. I have only done it once as my UK bank charges £4 flat rate for international bank transfers with a bad exchange rate.

Later on I have transferred using Western Union and had no extra fees plus the exchange rate was good.

 

[Fseyyad]

I have been using UBL Roshan account for a few months now. My account is in PKR, and at the time USD was the only other option. Recently GBP and EUR have become available.
The UBL website and iOS app are very good, certainly more advanced than the Barclays app that i use here in the UK.


The purpose of Roshan accounts is seemingly not a full bank account offering, rather it is an alternative way of sending money to relatives and crucially it makes the process of investing in NPC, real estate and stock market easier.
As already mentioned it can only be funded from abroad and cannot receive local inflows. Money that is sent from this bank account to anywhere in Pakistan is free from 0.6% WHT rules.

i have used the account to send money to relatives, local charities, tiny amount of NPC investment and recently a property investment.

So it is highly recommended if your purpose is one way flow from abroad to Pakistan.
i only have experience of UBL and their customer service is very good.

 

[Invicta]

Banks dont trained thier staff for products they launch.
Even bank staff dont know about full product information.it is normal behaviour in Pakistan.

That is true, make note that government of Pakistan has announced that the account is free of cost so there should be no charges for SMS or account management levied by any bank in Pakistan, That being said Standard Charter tried to charge me for SMS which I disputed and the money was refunded back to my account.

 

[PakAlp]

I have been using UBL Roshan account for a few months now. My account is in PKR, and at the time USD was the only other option. Recently GBP and EUR have become available.
The UBL website and iOS app are very good, certainly more advanced than the Barclays app that i use here in the UK.


The purpose of Roshan accounts is seemingly not a full bank account offering, rather it is an alternative way of sending money to relatives and crucially it makes the process of investing in NPC, real estate and stock market easier.
As already mentioned it can only be funded from abroad and cannot receive local inflows. Money that is sent from this bank account to anywhere in Pakistan is free from 0.6% WHT rules.

i have used the account to send money to relatives, local charities, tiny amount of NPC investment and recently a property investment.

So it is highly recommended if your purpose is one way flow from abroad to Pakistan.
i only have experience of UBL and their customer service is very good.

Thanks. I myself want to open a Roshan account but many banks have terrible customer services so was hesitant till now. Its a great way to send money to relatives/family/charity in Pakistan. I was told you can withdraw money from ATM machine only, you can only deposit from a foreign bank or you can send the money to a different account and then withdraw.

 

[Wood]

Good:
You can have a digital bank account in Pakistan from anywhere in the world
You bring in badly needed foreign exchange reserve to your homeland
You get interest on your money saved in Pakistani banks

Bad:
None

The risk is that Pakistan will default on its debt obligations and may not be able to return your capital and the promised interest. This is why the Roshan accounts have a 7% interest rate - well above the market average for $ denominated accounts.

As nationalists, many people here will not mind that as a big deal. But for a rational investor who is more particular about personal financial interest, this is a big deal. People should keep only fraction of their portfolio in such high risk investments. Based on the fact that you did not know about the interest rates in $ denominated Roshan accounts until recently, I think that you do not actually have a Roshan account with USD investment

EDIT - Just realized that this is an ancient thread that has been brought back from the dead

 

[Chakar The Great]

I recently opened one. Its extremely simple and only takes 48 hours.

None bad, I only opened it because I want to buy property in Pakistan.

With RDA government is planing to announce overseas housing scheme for overseas Pakistan. Seems like a nice initiative.

The risk is that Pakistan will default on its debt obligations and may not be able to return your capital and the promised interest. This is why the Roshan accounts have a 7% interest rate - well above the market average for $ denominated accounts.

As nationalists, many people here will not mind that as a big deal. But for a rational investor who is more particular about personal financial interest, this is a big deal. People should keep only fraction of their portfolio in such high risk investments. Based on the fact that you did not know about the interest rates in $ denominated Roshan accounts until recently, I think that you do not actually have a Roshan account with USD investment

EDIT - Just realized that this is an ancient thread that has been brought back from the dead

Only if wishes were horses, beggars would ride. Your typical Indian insecurity of defaulting Pakistan on loans is long standing and irrelevant. This thread has nothing to do with India, the a sangria jumps in for no reason. Obsession with Pakistan, my God.

 

[Wood]

Only if wishes were horses, beggars would ride. Your typical Indian insecurity of defaulting Pakistan on loans is long standing and irrelevant. This thread has nothing to do with India, the a sangria jumps in for no reason. Obsession with Pakistan, my God.

There is no free lunch.

I only pointed to the fact that 7% interest rate for the dollar denominated account is proportion to the risk (for deposit). I did not set this rate, the GoP did. So your accusations should be leveled at them. Not at the guy who stated the obvious.

 

[Introvert]

I have been using UBL Roshan account for a few months now. My account is in PKR, and at the time USD was the only other option. Recently GBP and EUR have become available.
The UBL website and iOS app are very good, certainly more advanced than the Barclays app that i use here in the UK.


The purpose of Roshan accounts is seemingly not a full bank account offering, rather it is an alternative way of sending money to relatives and crucially it makes the process of investing in NPC, real estate and stock market easier.
As already mentioned it can only be funded from abroad and cannot receive local inflows. Money that is sent from this bank account to anywhere in Pakistan is free from 0.6% WHT rules.

i have used the account to send money to relatives, local charities, tiny amount of NPC investment and recently a property investment.

So it is highly recommended if your purpose is one way flow from abroad to Pakistan.
i only have experience of UBL and their customer service is very good.

If I have money in RDA. Will I be able to withdraw it if I travel to Pakistan. My question might sound silly but I'm just curious.

 

[Fseyyad]

If I have money in RDA. Will I be able to withdraw it if I travel to Pakistan. My question might sound silly but I'm just curious.

Yes you will be able to access your money. I withdrew 1lac at a time from UBL cash machines when I was in Pakistan recently using the debit card that came with the account. I recall getting a cheque book as well, but I've never used it.
Update: Recently a charge of about 200 PKR appears when I make a bank transfer from this account. I think this is a new allowance for banks to be able to charge this ( 32PKR for "Federal Excise Duty" + 168 PKR for "Ibft for Digital Channel" )

 

[Introvert]

Yes you will be able to access your money. I withdrew 1lac at a time from UBL cash machines when I was in Pakistan recently using the debit card that came with the account. I recall getting a cheque book as well, but I've never used it.
Update: Recently a charge of about 200 PKR appears when I make a bank transfer from this account. I think this is a new allowance for banks to be able to charge this ( 32PKR for "Federal Excise Duty" + 168 PKR for "Ibft for Digital Channel" )

I have a Roshan digital account with MCB and I'm having issues registering with MCB live app. When I enter my CNIC #, it shows this error "Entered CNIC # does not match with bank record". Is anyone else experiencing the same issue?