Best business bank account in Pakistan for an online business

Which account to open

Open the account your strictest payer asks for, and nothing bigger. Limits and fees below are from each bank’s own pages and its July–December 2026 schedule of charges, as of October 2026.

1. No account at that bank, debits under Rs 1,000,000 a month, balance under Rs 3,000,000: Asaan at HBL, MCB or UBL.
2. You already bank there: Asaan is closed to you at HBL and UBL. Open the bank’s business or sole-proprietor current account. MCB’s Asaan page does not say, so ask.
3. You will use a payment gateway, spend more than Rs 1,000,000 a month or hold more than Rs 3,000,000: a sole-proprietor current account in your own name.
4. Clients pay you from abroad: a freelancer account, or a current account that accepts the transfer. See the freelancer section.
5. Still torn between two banks: take the one whose branch will issue a bank account maintenance certificate within a few days. Transfer fees are near-identical.

The Asaan limits are on three bank pages and agree: HBL, MCB and UBL cap the balance at Rs 3,000,000 and debits at Rs 1,000,000 a month. HBL and UBL limit Asaan to customers with no account at that bank, one per CNIC. MCB and UBL open it with a deposit from Rs 100.

Rs 1,000,000 goes quicker than it sounds, because every rupee that leaves the account counts. Say you spend Rs 450,000 on fabric, Rs 250,000 on stitching and Rs 200,000 on ads in a month. Rs 450,000 + Rs 250,000 + Rs 200,000 = Rs 900,000, which is 90% of an Asaan limit, and one bigger restock takes you over. Add up last month’s outgoings before you choose.

What couriers and gateways ask for

Your COD money and card sales end up in this account, so start with what the people paying you ask for.

• Leopards Retail COD pays COD proceeds into your bank account within a week of a successful delivery. You register with your name, CNIC, mobile number, bank name and IBAN, brand name and address. The documents are just a copy of your CNIC and a cheque, so the account must issue cheques.
• Safepay lists a sole-proprietor account under the proprietor’s name, says it expects a current account, and wants a bank account maintenance certificate from your branch. Its document list adds your identity document and an NTN certificate issued by FBR.
• Daraz: ask Daraz which bank accounts it pays into. Its public Sell on Daraz page lists no payout-bank rules.

Safepay’s pages disagree on how fresh the certificate must be: within 4 weeks on the account-selection page (last updated January 23, 2023), no more than three months on the document list (June 17, 2026). Apply on the day the certificate is issued and neither rule can trip you. Ask Safepay support whether an Asaan account is accepted before you pay for the certificate.

For the COD side, see how to open a COD account with each courier.

Personal, sole-proprietor or Asaan: the rule

The payer decides, not the bank. Match the account to the strictest requirement you will face.

The common mistake is opening the cheapest account now and a second one when the gateway asks: a second certificate, a second set of documents, a second branch visit. If you expect to use Safepay within a few months, open a sole-proprietor current account on day one. If you only take COD through Leopards, Asaan is enough while debits stay under Rs 1,000,000.

Four banks compared

One account per bank, from the July–December 2026 schedules of charges: HBL’s schedule, MCB’s schedule, UBL’s schedule and Allied’s schedule. These are current accounts that suit a sole proprietor; Asaan and freelancer accounts are covered separately.

Read the table as a first-year bill for paperwork. MCB: Rs 300 for the certificate, with the cheque book free. Allied: Rs 550 + Rs 1,650 = Rs 2,200 for the certificate and a 50-leaf book. UBL: nothing for either. HBL: Rs 2,000 for the book unless you keep a Rs 40,000 average, plus a certificate. HBL lists a bank certificate for visa purposes at Rs 470, not an account maintenance certificate by name, so ask what yours costs.

Fees are as printed. Interbank transfer charges include FED and sales tax at all four banks, but HBL prints the rest of its schedule exclusive of both, and MCB and Allied add them to other fees, so card, cheque and certificate costs run a little higher than the table. UBL’s schedule also lists a Proprietorship Certificate at Rs 175; ask whether your branch wants one.

MCB Business needs a Rs 100,000 monthly average for its free services, so Smart Business is the cheaper start for one person. Money parked to meet a minimum is money you cannot spend on stock.

Opening requirements and documents

An Asaan account is the light option. HBL opens it with your CNIC. UBL’s page asks for a CNIC and a self-declaration. MCB’s page lists a deposit from Rs 100 and no documents, so ask. A sole-proprietor account needs more. UBL’s document list for self-employed and sole-proprietor accounts asks for:

• A valid CNIC.
• Proof of your business or work. For a sole proprietorship, any one of a sales tax registration or NTN where applicable, a trade-body membership, or a declaration or requisition on business letterhead.
• Evidence of where your income comes from: a receipt of payment, an account statement or a tax statement.
• A physical visit. UBL says physical verification, with photographs of the business, is mandatory for these accounts.

Allied asks for the owner’s identity document, the business’s identity documents and proof of income, plus anything its policy adds. An NTN is not always required to open an account, but Safepay asks for one, so take the certificate along. FBR’s pages list no fee for an individual NTN, and your CNIC number is the NTN; the steps are in how to register an online business.

The order that saves you trips to the branch:

1. If you plan to use Safepay, get your NTN on IRIS first.
2. Pick the branch nearest to you, and send it the questions in the checklist below.
3. Open the account. On day one, ask for a cheque book and for a bank account maintenance certificate in your name.
4. Ask the branch to set up your Raast ID, your mobile number linked to the account, so suppliers can pay you by Raast.
5. Send the cheque copy to your courier and the certificate to your gateway.

Freelancer accounts and money from abroad

If clients abroad pay you, a freelancer account is built for it. All four banks list one, and they differ in what they promise:

• HBL Freelancer Digital: for resident individuals aged 18 and over who are new to HBL. It opens digitally with CNIC images and a live photo, with no minimum balance, a current account only, and a decision in 2 working days. The PayPak card is free for the first year.
• MCB Freelancer Pak Rupee: no minimum balance, no maintenance fee, one free cheque book and two free banker’s cheques a month, and free PayPak Classic or Gold. The page lists no documents, so ask.
• UBL Freelancer: its schedule makes the card, cheque book, app interbank transfers and e-PRC free, with waivers that need a Rs 25,000 yearly average. The UBL Visa Freelancer debit card is Rs 2,900.
• Allied Freelancer: no minimum balance, exempt from service charges, and a free first-year PayPak Classic. It asks for a CNIC, a self-declaration that your income is freelance, and proof of the work; an NTN only if you have one. Open it at a branch, in myABL or on the website.

HBL and MCB attach an Exporter’s Special Foreign Currency Account that lets you keep USD 5,000 a month or 50% of export proceeds, whichever is higher, in dollars. If your income is in dollars and you pay suppliers in rupees, ask whether you want that.

A freelancer account suits money from clients. A shop selling to Pakistani buyers through a gateway still needs what the gateway asks for, as in the rule above. Payoneer pays out to Pakistani banks, and Meezan Bank offers real-time withdrawal in its app, with a Proceeds Realisation Certificate sent by email. HBL’s schedule charges Rs 500 for that certificate on a transaction older than a year, so ask for it when the money lands. Our post on getting paid from overseas without PayPal lists the routes and what they cost.

The catch on Asaan: HBL allows inward remittance with no limit but restricts outward and commercial remittance. UBL sets no cap on incoming home remittance and restricts outward cross-border transactions except by card. Neither page says an export payment counts as inward remittance, so get your branch to confirm in writing before you route export money to an Asaan account.

What moving money costs

The app transfer fee is the same at all four banks, so it should not decide your bank. Example: you pay suppliers Rs 250,000 this month. The figures ignore the free Rs 25,000, so they are the worst case.

Pay from the app, not the counter, and pay by Raast when the supplier has a Raast ID. The State Bank’s March 2022 circular letter says a customer’s Raast limit cannot be below Rs 200,000 per transaction or the limit that applies to the account type, so for a Rs 250,000 bill split it in two or check your limit first.

Two more lines from the schedules. HBL charges Rs 300 a month for HBL Pay Business Banking, which is Rs 3,600 a year plus FED and sales tax where applicable, so skip it until a team needs it. Over-the-counter SMS alerts cost Rs 325 a month at HBL and Rs 250 at MCB (Rs 135 on MCB Asaan), so ask about the app alerts instead.

If your COD money sits in JazzCash, the July–September 2026 schedule of charges lets you send to any bank account free up to Rs 50,000 a month, then 0.1% or Rs 200, whichever is less, plus Rs 1.55 per transaction. The October–December schedule was not on JazzCash’s site on October 20, 2026. See our JazzCash merchant account guide and the Easypaisa business account guide.

Ask the bank these before you sign

Send this to the branch manager by email or WhatsApp, and keep the reply:

I want to open a sole-proprietor current account for an online clothing brand. Please confirm in writing: (1) the monthly debit limit and the maximum balance, (2) whether I can receive Payoneer or other export payments and get a Proceeds Realisation Certificate, (3) the cost per leaf of a cheque book, (4) the cost and turnaround of a bank account maintenance certificate, (5) the charge for an interbank transfer and a Raast transfer, (6) the minimum average balance for free services and the charge if I miss it, and (7) which documents you need and whether you visit the business.

If the answer to the second question is no, pick another branch or bank. Work out the cost of one order after the bank and courier fees with our COD profit calculator.

Where your store fits

Whichever bank you choose, a Storelala store adds no fees on any plan. Lite is free forever, with cash on delivery only. Core, at Rs 2,000 a month or Rs 1,000 a month billed yearly, adds JazzCash, Easypaisa and card payments at checkout, and PostEx, Leopards and TCS booked from the order screen with tracking sent to the buyer on WhatsApp.

Your courier pays COD proceeds into the account you register with it, so open the account first. See pricing.

Questions sellers ask

What is the best bank for a business account in Pakistan?

None wins on transfer fees. HBL, MCB, UBL and Allied all charge the same for app interbank transfers in their July–December 2026 schedules: the first Rs 25,000 a month free, then 0.1% or Rs 200, whichever is lower. They differ on balance and paperwork. MCB Smart Business has a nil minimum balance, HBL exempts its Conventional Current Account from the Rs 50 service charge, and Allied’s Business Account asks for Rs 50,000. Open at the bank you already use, at the branch that issues a maintenance certificate fastest.

What are the requirements to open a business bank account in Pakistan?

Your CNIC, proof of the business, evidence of where your income comes from, and a visit. UBL’s document list for sole-proprietor accounts accepts any one of a sales tax registration or NTN where applicable, a trade-body membership, or a declaration on business letterhead, and says physical verification with photographs of the business is mandatory. Opening deposits are small: Rs 100 for MCB and UBL Asaan, Rs 1,000 for Allied Business. If you plan to use Safepay, you also need an NTN certificate from FBR and a bank account maintenance certificate no more than three months old. Ask your branch for its own checklist.

Which bank has a freelancer digital account in Pakistan?

All four of these banks list one. HBL Freelancer Digital opens digitally for new-to-bank customers with a CNIC and a live photo. MCB Freelancer Pak Rupee, UBL Freelancer and Allied Freelancer are listed in their schedules. HBL, MCB and Allied state no minimum balance, and UBL’s waivers need a Rs 25,000 yearly average. Check which one accepts your Payoneer or client transfers in writing.

What is the minimum balance for a current account in Pakistan?

It depends on the account. MCB Smart Business and MCB Asaan have none, UBL Mukammal and Asaan charge nothing for a low balance, and HBL’s Conventional Current Account is exempt from its Rs 50 service charge. Allied Business asks for a Rs 50,000 average and charges Rs 50 a month including FED if you miss it. MCB Business needs Rs 100,000 for free services, and UBL Business Partner waivers start at Rs 250,000.

Can I use a personal account for my online business?

To start, often yes. Leopards Retail COD asks for a copy of your CNIC and a cheque. Safepay lists a sole-proprietor account under the proprietor’s name and expects a current account, so confirm with its support before you rely on a personal one. Asaan accounts cap debits at Rs 1,000,000 a month and the balance at Rs 3,000,000, so a growing shop outgrows one.

Can I open an online business bank account from my phone?

Individual accounts, yes. HBL Freelancer Digital opens digitally, and the UBL and MCB schedules list digital Asaan variants. A sole-proprietor business current account is different: UBL says physical verification with photographs of the business is mandatory for self-employed and sole-proprietor accounts. Expect one branch visit, then manage everything in the app.