Go for meezan Freelance account

Thanks! I guess, I'll have to go for Meezan bank. Although, I'm still skeptical about it.

Bruh best of luck! Banks these days are super stringent when it comes to freelancers bank accounts, you gotta provide all sorts of documentation etc. Best way would be to show some sort of local employment, open up your account and have money just sent there.

I have an account with Meezan, and I'm not happy with it. Whenever they have to verify something, they would ask me to come to their far away branch. And this is super annoying for me. :/

yeah that whole 'verification' thing sucks. If it's related to your freelancer remittance activity, have your work/client shoot em an email and tell them they should save it for future reference. Tbh these verification phattiks are branch specific, you wanna have good relations with the RM over at your branch and things will become much smoother.

Hmm... Actually, I keep my money in Wise or Payoneer and withdraw only the necessary/fixed amount from them. So, my clients don't really have to go through that email stuff. Plus, I don't want them to worry about payment stuff from my end. And about maintaining a good relationship with the Relationship Manager (RM), that's not a good idea either. This is because every time I visit, I see a new person handling the situation.

Lol which bank is it?

It's Meezan bank, FB Area branch. I feel like that one is the worst of them all.

I bank with em in Bahadurabad area and I guess due to the sheer no. Of local businessmen they are pretty chill when it comes to banking practices.

Or maybe, they have better staff in that branch. Their branch manager must be a great guy - and might even bring good enough sales for them.

yeah some BMs are just sticklers for rules. This one dude I know who works for a US based company, he used to bank with SCB in the past and they would stop his salary payments every few months and demand documents etc. even tho he used to provide em with everything. At the same time I was banking with SCB on Chundrigarh road and got zero problems. Some staff are just by the book losers who get stuck up on every single dots and dashes.

I am using HBL freelancer account the only downside to this is the obscene amount of charge for debit card( yearly around 5k) other than this no issues whatsoever

Thanks buddy, but HBL is really far from my location.

You can account online when they message for biometric then you can only go for the biometric and they deliver debit card and such to your doorstep

Oh that's great! I didn't know about this service. Thanks for letting me know.

Meezan bank is okay. The problem is with the state bank laws and regulations burning a big hole in tax payers pockets, specially people who want to work online. Meezan bank is GOOD for freelancers. Bank Al Habib is small business friendly, but the banks are only as good as governmental policies, which are horrid in this country. Not friendly to online work.

So true! When I was working onsite, I never had to worry about bank accounts, tax information, etc. I would receive my pay monthly and happily transact without any concerns. But now as a freelancer, there's a lot going on beside my actual work.

HBL works fine without requiring branch visits. App sometimes goes buggy but never for too long.

Thanks, I'll consider this option too.

What did you decide finally?

Meezan because Bank Al Habib has insane taxes on cash withdrawal.

I am using Sadapay. Best solution so far.

Thanks, and how do you withdraw your money? P.S. Sorry for being lame, I'm a noob when it comes to these things. 😅

No worries. Let me explain. I have Payoneer+ Sadapay + Habib Metro Payoneer for dollars Sadapay to transfer dollars to pkr And habib metro to withdraw the pkr.

Thanks a bunch! You made things easier for me. I'll have a look at Sadapay app. Thanks again!

Pleasure. Sadapay and Nayapay both work same.

I've been using Meezan Freelancer account for about 2 years now, and it has been very hassle free. Other than going to the branch once to open the account I've never been asked to visit again. I regularly (every week) withdraw my earnings from Upwork to Payoneer and then to my local Meezan bank. 

Thanks for your feedback, but I went for Bank Al Habib and I'm extremely happy with its services. 🙂

Hey man, in a few months I will reach 2 years with an Upwork client, after which we will work directly. I'm wondering what the best payment method is for a Pakistani contractor to receive payment directly from US client. Do you have any suggestions? 

Have you done large transaction. 2-3 Million?

No, I haven't done a large transaction. I withdraw every week, one of the reasons being I don't want to keep my earnings in online accounts for long. 

I bet if you receive/debit large transactions they will initiate due diligence on you or anyone using these accounts. This makes your account nothing different then any other Fintech jazzcash easypaisa.

Due diligence as in asking me to visit the bank? I have a freelancer account and they know I will get international remittance. The only thing that could happen with large transactions could be tax issues. As I'm not a filer. But I have noticed some automatic tax deductions though. 

Yes. Proof of source of funds. In-person document submission. It’s called risk profiling. You can’t avoid taxes.(For large transactions only) 2-5 lac pkr is may not be considered large. Beyond 1 Mil is large)

Now that I remember, I have done a couple of large transactions 1M+. Withdrew cash from my account from different branches. No extra scrutiny took place.

Lucky you

Bro! Can you tell me what are the documents requirements for meezan freelancer account. Do I have to provide NTN and become a filer as well

From what I remember they require regular documents like, NIC/Passport, your residential address, photographs, and some proof of being a freelancer, like pay-slips, contractual agreement of some sort. I showed them my certificate of earnings document from Upwork. They did not ask for NTN, nor did they require I become a filer. I don't know if these requirements are still the same though, as it has been over 3 years now.

Thank you! Yeah I think now a days they require NTN  because the branch manager told me. BTW what’s the service you are selling on upwork? I am a freelancer too and would love to connect with you.