KARACHI: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has announced increased transaction limits for Asaan Account and Asaan Remittance Account to facilitate customers.
Two new types of low-risk accounts, namely Asaan Account and Asaan Remittance Account, have been introduced by the SBP to extend the benefits of financial services to the unbanked and underbanked segments of the population. However, the transaction limits of both accounts were lower than those of other bank accounts.
In this regard, in order to further expand the scope of the Asaan Account and the Asaan Rebate Account, the SBP has decided to strengthen the transaction limits of the Asaan Account and the Asaan Rebate Account.
In accordance with the revised instructions, the revised transaction limit of the Asaan account has been increased by 100%. Previously, the total debit per month for the Asaan account was Rs 0.5 million and now the SBP has upgraded it up to Rs 1 million. In addition, the total credit balance limit of the Asaan account has been increased from 0.5 million rupees to 1 million rupees.
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For the Asaan Remittance account, the maximum credit balance limit has been increased from Rs 1 million to Rs 3 million. The cash withdrawal limit from the Asaan Remittance account has been set at Rs 500,000 per day from the previous limit of Rs. 50,000 per day.
The fund transfer limit to any other account was Rs. 50,000 per day and now increased to Rs. 500,000 per day for Asaan Remittance Account customers. With revised instructions, local credit in the amount of Rs. 1 million per month is allowed, but no commercial remittances will be allowed under the Asaan Remittance Account.
The State Bank is actively promoting financial inclusion in the country by expanding the reach of banking services to all segments of society through conventional and innovative channels. However, despite the efforts of SBP, a large part of the population still remains excluded from financial services. In order to improve financial inclusion in Pakistan, SBP has formulated a National Financial Inclusion Strategy (NFIS) in which a target of 50% growth in bank accounts by adult population by 2020 has been set.
To achieve this goal and facilitate the banking industry, SBP in 2015 launched simplified account opening requirements/procedures and introduced a new category of account i.e. Asaan account for low risk customers. In addition, in an effort to promote the use of bank accounts by home remittance recipients (recipients), SBP in 2017 allowed banks to open an “Asaan remittance account” for potential remittance recipients. home funds on the model of the Asaan account.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022
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