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Yes. In November 2024, Meezan Bank deleted its announced 5% monthly charge on qualifying high-balance deposit accounts, and contemporaneous reporting said Bank Alfalah also withdrew a similar charge on very large checking-account balances. The thresholds differed: Meezan’s was PKR 1 billion; Bank Alfalah’s reported threshold was PKR 5 billion.
What each bank announced—and later withdrew
| Bank | Account type | Announced balance threshold | Currency scope | Announced effective date | Withdrawal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Meezan Bank | Deposit accounts | PKR 1 billion or more on the last day of the month | PKR or equivalent in foreign currency | December 21, 2024 | On November 26, 2024, Meezan said the addition to its Schedule of Charges “shall stand deleted with immediate effect.” Meezan Bank notice |
| Bank Alfalah | Checking accounts | PKR 5 billion or more at month-end | Not stated in the cited report | Not stated in the cited report | ProPakistani reported on November 26, 2024, that the bank withdrew the fee with immediate effect. The bank’s own withdrawal notice was not available in the cited coverage. ProPakistani report |
Meezan’s official amendment confirms its reversal. The evidence for Bank Alfalah’s withdrawal is contemporaneous media reporting, rather than a retrieved notice from the bank itself. Dawn reported that other banks also notified large depositors and that thresholds varied, generally from PKR 1 billion to PKR 5 billion. Dawn report, November 22, 2024
How the proposed fee was meant to work
The charge was described as a 5% monthly fee tied to a qualifying balance on the final day of a month. It was not a general fee on ordinary accounts or on every rupee held by customers below the stated threshold. Meezan’s notice specified deposit accounts at PKR 1 billion or above, including the equivalent in foreign currency. ProPakistani described Bank Alfalah’s proposal as applying to checking-account month-end balances of PKR 5 billion or more.
The banks therefore did not announce one shared rule: the account categories and thresholds were distinct. The reports and notice describe proposed charges that were subsequently withdrawn, not fees that should be assumed to apply today.
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Why the banks reportedly reversed the charges
Dawn reported that banks were seeking to avoid an incremental tax of up to 15% if the banking sector’s advance-to-deposit ratio (ADR) remained below 50% on December 31, 2024. An ADR compares advances with deposits; the reported tax incentive was linked to the sector’s year-end ratio, not a customer’s individual account balance. Dawn’s contemporaneous account
Business Recorder reported that banks began reversing the charges after what it characterized as unofficial directives from the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP). Business Recorder report The cited coverage does not establish a public SBP order as the reason for these two banks’ decisions, nor does it prove that tax avoidance was each bank’s official motive. Treat both explanations as contemporaneous reporting, not a confirmed official statement from Meezan or Bank Alfalah.
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This is a historical 2024 fee episode, not a reliable guide to current account charges. Bank Alfalah’s website lists schedule-of-charges documents, but an index alone does not establish the terms for every account or confirm what appears in every later schedule. Bank Alfalah Schedule of Charges index
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- For a current account decision, review the schedule that applies to your specific account and its effective dates.
- If a charge is unclear, ask the bank to confirm the account type, balance basis, currency treatment, and applicable schedule in writing.
- Do not infer current terms from the withdrawn announcements or from a schedule index alone.
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