Top Ten Banks In Pakistan

March 12, 2021

History of Banking in Pakistan started post-independence with the establishment of the first headquarters of State Bank of Pakistan in Karachi. Prior to independence, all the banking was handled by the Reserve Bank of India. State Bank of Pakistan was the first central bank of Pakistan and later many new banks were established. Islamic banking in Pakistan also started in later years.

Today, Pakistan Banking Sector comprises of Foreign Banks, Islamic Banks, Commercial Banks, Microfinance Banks, and Development Financial Institutions. Pakistan has a total of 31 Banks, out of which 5 belong to the public sector, 22 private, and 4 are foreign.

Here we will only talk about the top ten banks of Pakistan as of 2021.

Habib Bank.
National Bank of Pakistan.
MCB Bank
United Bank Limited.
Meezan Bank

Bank Alfalah.
Standard Chartered.
Allied Bank.
Faysal Bank
Askari Bank

Habib Bank

Habib Bank was founded in 1941 by Muhammad Ali Jinnah to support Muslims residing in the subcontinent. Today, it is considered the best and biggest bank in Pakistan. The HBL headquarters is in Karachi and has nearly 1700 branches spread across the country along with 2007+ active ATMs. Bank also has an overseas network to approximately 25 countries spanning across, Europe, Asia, America, Middle East, Africa and Australia.

On the basis of assets, HBL is at the top of the list and operated by AKFED (Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development). The bank operates in the following areas:

Corporate Banking
Branch Banking
Consumer Banking
Loans and Savings
SME and Investment Banking Administration
Retail Financing

National Bank of Pakistan

National Bank of Pakistan, founded in 1949, is the first major state-owned bank. It is also a partner to the Central Bank of Pakistan. Since its establishment in Karachi, the headquarters is still there with around 12000 representatives, 1450 branches and operational 1000+ ATMs across cities of Pakistan. NBP also has more than 21 branches worldwide with agent workplaces located in Canada and China.

NBP is now the second-largest commercial Bank of Pakistan with around 13% market shares. The bank provides the following core services:

Commercial banking
Public sector banking
Investment advisory
Broking and leasing
Exchanges
Individual banking

MCB Bank

MCB, formerly known as Muslim Commercial Bank, is one of the oldest bank operating in Pakistan. It was founded in 1947, nationalized later in 1974 and in 1991 the bank was privatized. MCB has been awarded two times (2016, 2017), Euromoney Award for Best Investment Banks in Pakistan.

MCB currently has 1100 branches across Pakistan, 8 branches in different countries, 14000 representatives overall and serves nearly 4 million users. In around 2005, the bank decided to change its name to MCB to enter the worldwide market. The reason behind this decision was the term ’Muslim’ in the name because it was bringing restrictions to get a license from Western Nations.

United Bank Limited

In the private financial sector, UBL (United Bank Limited) is the largest bank operating in Pakistan since its establishment in 1959. Bank currently has more than $15billion in resources and many representatives around the nation. UBL has over 1380+ branches and 1120+ ATMs operating in Pakistan and 19 branches in other countries including, Bahrain, Qatar, China, Oman, UAE, UK, Yemen, US, Iran, Switzerland and Tanzania.

Bank has more than 10000+ representatives all around the country and has a strong principle of serving their clients with the best banking experience. UBL operates in the following areas:

UBL 1024x612 - Top Ten Banks in Pakistan

Corporate Banking
Investment Banking
Retail Banking
Treasury Services

Moreover, Banks’ stocks are on all the three stock exchanges of Pakistan and the London Stock Exchange.

Meezan Bank

Meezan Bank also comes in the top Banks of Pakistan list with its customer friendly services. It is not the old bank because it was established in 2002 and till this day they have successfully opened over 690 branches spanning over 180+ cities and has employed 10000+ people. Another impressive thing is that they own 35% shares in the Islamic Banking Sector of Pakistan.

MEBL provides the following services for its clients:

Consumer Banking
Ijarah
Saving accounts
Murabaha
Diminishing Musharakah
Karobari Munafa Account
Meezan Rupee current Account

If you are looking for a good debit card for online shopping then checkout Meezan Bank’s as their cards are accepted on international sites including Google Ads and Facebook Ads. furthermore,

Bank Alfalah

Bank Alfalah was established in 1997 and is a solitary bank constrained by Abu Dhabi Group, with headquarters in Karachi, Pakistan. It is currently at the sixth spot in the top banks of Pakistan. To this day, the bank has nearly 700+ active branches in Pakistan. Bank has international branches in Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Bahrain with a representative office in UAE. Bank Alfalah has over the years invested in revolutionary technology and brought its customers a wide range of services.

Bank Alflah 1024x537 - Top Ten Banks in Pakistan

The bank provides the following services:

Consumer Banking
Corporate Banking
Retail Banking
Islamic banking
Treasury
International Operations
Asset Management
Retail Brokerage

Standard Chartered

Standard Chartered, established in 1863, is the largest and oldest foreign bank which is operational under the subsidiary of Uk-based Standard Chartered Bank. SCB is one the few international banks that have Islamic Banking License in Pakistan. Currently, it has 90+ branches and 170+ ATMs that operate in more than 11 cities of Pakistan with over 34k+ representatives. Just like any other major bank in Pakistan, SCB headquarters is also in Karachi. Bank offers direct intermediary services and quick approval and therefore is known as Best Bank for Freelancers and Foreign Remittances.

Bank provides the following services to its consumers:

Institutional Banking
Corporate Banking
Commercial Baking
Central Banking
Retail Banking
Deposits
Loans
Wealth management
Foreign exchange service
Mortgages

Allied Bank

Allied Bank was founded in 1942 with Austral Asia Bank and later changed into Allied bank of Pakistan in 1974 till 2005. Later it was named Allied Bank Limited which stands till this day. Bank operates through 1250+ branches out of which 77 are Islamic banking branches, one in Karachi export processing zone, 1150+ATMs and 4k+ representatives across the whole country. Allied bank has currently a single international branch, which is in Bahrain. Unlike others, its headquarters is in Lahore.

Allied Bank has the following services:

Business banking
Personal banking
Islamic banking
Corporate Banking
Trading and Sales
Investment Banking
Retail Banking statement

Faysal Bank

Faysal Bank in Pakistan was founded in 1994 and is a subsidiary of Ithmaar Bank, Bahrain. With headquarters in Karachi, it has over 400+ branches out of which 200+ are Islamic banking branches, across 150 cities of Pakistan and operated by 3600+ representatives.

Faysal Bank provides the following services to its clients:

Trading and sales
Retail banking
Corporate banking
Commercial banking
Corporate finance
Loans and savings
Consumer banking

Askari Bank

Lastly, we have Askari Bank that deserves a spot in the top 10 banks of Pakistan. It was founded in October 1991 as a retail and commercial bank which is owned by Fauji Foundation Group. Bank has won awards including Best Retail Bank in Pakistan(2004 and 2005) and Best Consumer Internet Banking (2002 and 2003) which speaks of its reputation itself.

AKBL headquarters is currently in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. The Bank works through 150+ branches and 500+ ATMs nationwide with 7k+ representatives and counting. Askari bank has the following services: