Mashreq Bank introduces ‘first-ever’ profit on current accounts in Pakistan

KARACHI: Mashreq Bank Pakistan - one of the two retail digital banks operating in the country - has put a big focus on channeling workers’ remittances into the country from abroad and introduced profit on current accounts for the first time in Pakistan.

The bank says it will offer up to 5% profit per annum on current accounts.

“Mashreq NEO introduces Shariah-compliant remunerative current account with a market-first profit rate for customers of up to 5% per annum and Islamic savings account delivering the best-in-market return of up to 10%, and competitive rates on conventional variants,” Shahzad Khokhar, Head of Islamic Banking at Mashreq Pakistan, said on Monday at the launch of Mashreq NEO, the bank’s innovative digital banking platform designed specifically for Pakistan.

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With its headquarters in Dubai, the bank aims to serve 10 million Pakistanis over the next five years, as it claims to be the second-largest single foreign direct investor (FDI) in the country, having injected a total of $100 million into Pakistan over the past couple of years.

The bank looks to channel workers’ remittances apparently to mobilise deposits from accountholders and others, and begin offering lending to individuals and small and medium-sized entrepreneurs (SMEs) later from the next year of 2026.

Mashreq would leverage the bank’s global infrastructure to allow instant account opening for non-resident Pakistanis (NRPs) based in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), enabling faster and zero-fee remittances, as Mashreq UAE already has “close to 300,000 overseas Pakistanis” sending remittances from there to Pakistan, said the bank’s chief executive officer (CEO) Muhammad Hamayun Sajjad.

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He noted that Pakistan’s total remittances hit record $38 billion in the fiscal year 2024-25 from around $28 billion two years ago.

“These workers’ remittances have a share of 10% in the country’s [Pakistan] GDP, clearly a lifeline that our country looks forward to,” Sajjad said.

Fernando Morillo, Mashreq Bank Pakistan Chairman and Group Head of Retail Banking at Mashreq, shared, “We have invested over $100 million. This is the single most important investment in Pakistan for Mashreq in the last few years”.

Meanwhile, talking to Business Recorder on the sideline of the event, Mashreq Bank CEO Sajjad said the bank aimed to beginning SME banking from mid of 2026 and start lending to individuals by December 2026.

He further said the bank was in planning phase to install cash accepting automated teller machines (ATMs) in Pakistan in future.

Mashreq Bank Pakistan started commercial operations in the mid of September 2025.