Bank Alfalah has announced the immediate withdrawal of a 5% monthly fee on checking accounts with month-end balances exceeding Rs. 5 billion. This decision aims to enhance customer convenience and ease banking operations for high-value account holders.

Initially, the fee was introduced in the bank’s schedule of charges for July-December 2024, set to take effect on December 15. The fee would have resulted in a minimum deduction of Rs. 250 million per month from accounts with balances of Rs. PKR 5 billion.

The move to impose the fee was in response to the federal government’s 16% tax on banks with an Advance-to-Deposit Ratio (ADR) below 50%. Banks have been seeking ways to mitigate this tax burden, which is intended to encourage increased private lending.