Pakistani Banks and Credit Companies

[livingdead]

around 1 month credit period is available everywhere, It's not actually 1 month for every transaction. Bank generate your statement on billing date and calculate interest at billing date, So if you pay all your liability before or on billing date than you don't have to pay any charges except cash withdrawals. and other thing is Insurance cover, in case of credit card they automatically add it and charge you premium (It's not free lol) and for debit card you can get it by your own choice.

I am careful enough to pay in time, and no I did not take any insurance. I virtually get to do risky transactions (many of them online) for free.
Debit card is my own money, I use it for other less risky transactions like cash withdrawals (or which incure extra charges if paid by credit card).

Also, in future if I suddenly need money and have no other recourse, I would rather use credit card ( or get a personal loan which needs credit history) than wonga.com.

 

[Sugarcane]

well i don't know very much about credit cards in Pakistan but there are surely some Pakistan banks offering credit limits on credit cards. One of my family business is Road construction (in Pakistan) and I do remember my dad and chacha jee talking about credit limits of over 2-3 million rupees couple of years ago. So surely they do offer good credit limits like in Western Countries but the interest rate was so high that hardly anybody tries to borrow money by using the credit cards.

Even debit card is not very popular in Pakistan and my cousins despite having established business does not have a debit card in Pakistan. There would probably be only 4-5 ATM machines in my city (not sure) and the Bank cards are not as useful as they are in western countries due to less available of ATM machines and acceptance of such cards by the retailers.

My personal opinion only as i have not travelled to Pakistan since 2008 so may be the ground realities are now different

All multinational banks like Standard Chartered, Royal Bank, HSBC, Barkley etc. provides you ATM cum Debit Card, And i think Habib Bank & MCB also provides and these ATM cards are usable anywhere. I have SCB & Al-falah accounts i didn't face any difficulty.

 

[A1Kaid]

Habib Bank is one... They bailed out Pakistan in 1948 I think...

I was going to say Habib bank seems to be the most famous Pakistani bank.

 

[livingdead]

well i don't know very much about credit cards in Pakistan but there are surely some Pakistan banks offering credit limits on credit cards. One of my family business is Road construction (in Pakistan) and I do remember my dad and chacha jee talking about credit limits of over 2-3 million rupees couple of years ago. So surely they do offer good credit limits like in Western Countries but the interest rate was so high that hardly anybody tries to borrow money by using the credit cards.

Even debit card is not very popular in Pakistan and my cousins despite having established business does not have a debit card in Pakistan. There would probably be only 4-5 ATM machines in my city (not sure) and the Bank cards are not as useful as they are in western countries due to less available of ATM machines and acceptance of such cards by the retailers.

My personal opinion only as i have not travelled to Pakistan since 2008 so may be the ground realities are now different

Do you have to carry large amount of cash always then. Waiting infront of bank teller counter is never a pleasant experience, I remember.

 

[Sugarcane]

I am careful enough to pay in time, and no I did not take any insurance. I virtually get to do risky transactions (many of them online) for free.
Debit card is my own money, I use it for other less risky transactions like cash withdrawals (or which incure extra charges if paid by credit card).

Also, in future if I suddenly need money and have no other recourse, I would rather use credit card ( or get a personal loan which needs credit history) than wonga.com.

Did you checked your statement carefully? There is no extra charges, either you pay through debit card or credit card, mechanism of both is same only difference is in credit card you are using bank's money and they charge you interest.

I was going to say Habib bank seems to be the most famous Pakistani bank.

MCB is believed to be more successful local bank these days

 

[livingdead]

Did you checked your statement carefully? There is no extra charges, either you pay through debit card or credit card, mechanism of both is same only difference is in credit card you are using bank's money and they charge you interest.

Never paid any interest till date.
You only pay interest if you do not pay before due date and they usually inform you at least 10 days before the due date.
I pay them online whenever I receive my bill.(although I can do a direct debit which is automatic)
I can login to credit card online site and check my transactions any time.

 

[A1Kaid]

well i don't know very much about credit cards in Pakistan but there are surely some Pakistan banks offering credit limits on credit cards. One of my family business is Road construction (in Pakistan) and I do remember my dad and chacha jee talking about credit limits of over 2-3 million rupees couple of years ago. So surely they do offer good credit limits like in Western Countries but the interest rate was so high that hardly anybody tries to borrow money by using the credit cards.

Even debit card is not very popular in Pakistan and my cousins despite having established business does not have a debit card in Pakistan. There would probably be only 4-5 ATM machines in my city (not sure) and the Bank cards are not as useful as they are in western countries due to less available of ATM machines and acceptance of such cards by the retailers.

My personal opinion only as i have not travelled to Pakistan since 2008 so may be the ground realities are now different

Exactly even debit card usage isn't popular in Pakistan. Most people carry large sums of cash in pocket like idiots or hand it to their wife so she can put it in her purse. Now all the thieves know to strike the lady's purse... In fact most Pakistani people don't even have a bank account, they only go to the bank when an Expat is sending their poor arse money. Lol

Never paid any interest till date.
You only pay interest if you do not pay before due date and they usually inform you at least 10 days before the due date.
I pay them online whenever I receive my bill.(although I can do a direct debit which is automatic)
I can login to credit card online site and check my transactions any time.

That's the way to do it, managing your account online and not paper statements.

 

[Sugarcane]

Never paid any interest till date.
You only pay interest if you do not pay before due date and they usually inform you at least 10 days before the due date.
I pay them online whenever I receive my bill.(although I can do a direct debit which is automatic)
I can login to credit card online site and check my transactions any time.

Check your statements for service charges, value add or something like this, specially which have interest.

 

[Sugarcane]

Exactly even debit card usage isn't popular in Pakistan. Most people carry large sums of cash in pocket like idiots or hand it to their wife so she can put it in her purse. Now all the thieves know to strike the lady's purse... In fact most Pakistani people don't even have a bank account, they only go to the bank when an Expat is sending their poor arse money. Lol

Yaar - you are sitting in USA and talking about ground realities in Pakistan. Anyway there are reasons people prefer cash
1. CC is not 100% available but still these days people use it extensively in big cities
2. When you pay plastic money, banks deduct (0.5 - 2.5% depends on country) while paying to merchandiser. So, many businessmen add these charges to customer for example they will charge you 102 (inclusive of 2% of bank) instead of 100. Yes - if i go to medium - big names than they will not charge but they are expensive. For example if i want to buy a Nokia Mobile and i go to Nokia's franchise they will not charge extra but they will give me mobile on price written on box, however if i buy same mobile from other shop on cash than i will get minimum 5% discount.
3. Higher Interest Rates - Almost 33% Annually

 

[A1Kaid]

Lol at MCB, I can only imagine if a Bank decided to name itself by the name of particular religious followers here in the US. Banks should steer clear of religious names.

 

[Sugarcane]

Lol at MCB, I can only imagine if a Bank decided to name itself by the name of particular religious followers here in the US. Banks should steer clear of religious names.

Is it not funny they are leading bank even banks like citi & standard charted are not able to compete them in Pakistan's market

 

[Hyde]

Do you have to carry large amount of cash always then. Waiting infront of bank teller counter is never a pleasant experience, I remember.

well for business people prefer to issue cheques for large amount. If the dealer is living in different city... They TT money and dealer receives on the same day. People trust each other so millions of rupees worth of trade only on the phone call and you might be paying in one-off payment made after months of the first transaction.... depends upon trader to trader, nature of business or the relationships they have developed with each other...

but in most cases it's TT or Cheques for large amount and cash for small transactions

 

[A1Kaid]

Is it not funny they are leading bank even banks like citi & standard charted are not able to compete them in Pakistan's market

Lol yaar Citibank probably has higher standards than MCB, MCB is Pakistan's own bank and cater to your typical Pakistani clientele. Though Citibank is far better than MCB I'm sure. Citibank has great card offers and rewards for its clientele. It's also very travel friendly. MCB cannot match Citibank internationally.

 

[Sugarcane]

Lol yaar Citibank probably has higher standards than MCB, MCB is Pakistan's own bank and cater to your typical Pakistani clientele. Though Citibank is far better than MCB I'm sure. Citibank has great card offers and rewards for its clientele. It's also very travel friendly. MCB cannot match Citibank internationally.

Genius i talked about Pakistan's Market & As far my experience Standard Charterer's services are best

 

[A1Kaid]

So I want to know how do many people pay for these large houses in Pakistan? The kotis in cantts you see in Pakistan that are 45 crore more or less, is it through loan? Then pay incremental payments? Must be hard to get such a loan for people considering most Pakistanis have no credit history than again if your buying a 45 crore koti in Lahore cantt I would expect you have good credit standing and can make at least 1/4 down payment.

Genius i talked about Pakistan's Market & As far my experience Standard Charterer's services are best

Yaar I don't think Citibank cares about Pakistan's market, as their isn't a large well established financially stable consumer base for their credit company. Credit card companies prefer a consumer base that has $$$