State Bank limits free online transfers to Rs 25,000 per month

ISLAMABAD – The State Bank of Pakistan Wednesday announced to limit free interbank fund transfers to Rs25,000 a month.

According to the announcement made by the country’s central bank, the decision will take effect July 1. The rule was imposed back in March last year, and now the SBP allowed banks and other service providers to charge a minimal fee on high-value transactions while the low-income segments of the population will continue to use digital transactions free of cost.

2/2 For transactions above Rs25000 in a month, banks may charge, a transaction fee of 0.1% of the transaction amount or Rs200, whichever is lower. This will enable service providers to recover part of their costs and help them in building sustainable innovative business models.

— SBP (@StateBank_Pak) June 16, 2021

During the first wave of pandemic last year, State Bank took a number of measures to stem the spread of the deadly virus and advised banks to offer free of cost Inter Bank Fund Transfer services to all their customers regardless of the size of the transaction.

‘For transactions above the aggregate limit, banks may charge individual customers a transaction fee of no more than 0.1% of the transaction amount or Rs200, whichever is lower,’ the State Bank said.

Adding that, this will enable service providers to recover part of costs and build sustainable business models. Further, incoming interbank fund transfer transactions shall also remain free.”