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Dubai’s Mashreq launches Pakistan’s first Islamic-focused digital banking platform

Representatives of Dubai-based Mashreq posing for picture at the launch of Mashreq NEO in Karachi, on November 25, 2025. (Mashreq)
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Updated 25 November 2025
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Dubai’s Mashreq launches Pakistan’s first Islamic-focused digital banking platform

  • Mashreq NEO to offer Shariah-compliant current, savings accounts with market-first profit rates
  • Bank aims to serve 10 million Pakistanis in five years, including overseas Pakistanis
Updated 25 November 2025
Ismail Dilawar

KARACHI: Dubai-based Mashreq on Tuesday launched Mashreq NEO in Pakistan, introducing what it says is the country’s first fully Islamic-focused digital banking platform as the United Arab Emirates–headquartered lender expands its regional footprint into South Asia’s fast-growing fintech market.

Pakistan’s banking regulator has encouraged digital entrants in recent years in an effort to expand access for millions of unbanked citizens, especially women and freelancers. As of 2023, about 36 percent of adults in Pakistan remain unbanked.

Mashreq’s arrival follows the government’s push to accelerate financial inclusion and digital payments, with the bank positioning its platform as a Shariah-compliant, paperless alternative to traditional banking.

Launched in Karachi under the patronage of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Mashreq NEO is now fully operational nationwide. The platform offers account opening “in minutes,” free digital transactions, nationwide ATM access and profit-bearing Islamic accounts, including what the bank describes as a “market-first profit rate” of up to 5 percent per annum on remunerative current accounts and up to 10 percent on Islamic savings accounts.

“Mashreq’s mission has always been to advance how people bank, save, and grow,” Fernando Morillo, Group Head of Retail Banking at Mashreq & Chairman of Mashreq Bank Pakistan, said in a statement.

“The launch of Mashreq NEO underscores our long-term commitment to empowering individuals and businesses in one of the world’s most dynamic digital markets with our global innovation legacy.”

Mashreq NEO aims to target salaried professionals, freelancers, women entrepreneurs and Non-Resident Pakistanis (NRPs), offering instant account opening for Pakistanis in the UAE, zero-fee remittances and lifestyle-linked debit card discounts at more than 30,000 outlets nationwide. The digital platform is built on cloud-based infrastructure aligned with State Bank of Pakistan regulations and incorporates international cybersecurity standards, according to the bank.

“Pakistanis have always found a way to adapt, innovate, and move forward. It’s time their banking did the same,” said Muhammad Hamayun Sajjad, CEO Mashreq Bank Pakistan. “Our Islamic-first digital model is designed to make everyday banking simple, transparent, and inclusive to empower customers to bank with trust and ease.”

Mashreq, one of the Middle East’s oldest financial institutions, said it aims to onboard 10 million customers in Pakistan within five years as digital banking adoption accelerates. The bank said NEO’s expansion aligns with Pakistan’s broader transition toward financial technology, secure digital payments and increased participation in the formal economy.
 

Topics: Mashreq Bank Mashreq NEO Pakistan UAE

Islamabad steps up vehicle checks to boost security as 166,000 cars get electronic tags

Updated 4 sec ago
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Islamabad steps up vehicle checks to boost security as 166,000 cars get electronic tags

  • Authorities say over 3,000 vehicles registered in past 24 hours as enforcement intensifies
  • Extended service hours introduced to push full compliance with digital monitoring system
Updated 4 sec ago
Waseem Abbasi

ISLAMABAD: Authorities in the Pakistani capital have intensified enforcement against vehicles without mandatory electronic tags with more than 166,000 cars now registered, according to data released on Sunday evening, as Islamabad moves to strengthen security and digital monitoring at key entry and exit points.

The Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) administration introduced the electronic tagging system late last year as part of a broader effort to regulate traffic, improve record-keeping and enhance surveillance in a city that hosts the country’s main government institutions, foreign missions and diplomatic enclaves.

Under the system, vehicles are fitted with electronic tags that can be read automatically by scanners installed at checkpoints across the capital, allowing authorities to identify unregistered vehicles without manual inspections. Vehicles already equipped with a motorway tag, or m-tag, are exempt from the requirement.

“A total of 166,888 vehicles have successfully been issued M-Tags so far, including 3,130 vehicles in the last 24 hours,” the ICT administration said, according to the Excise Department.

Officials said readers installed at checkpoints across Islamabad are fully operational and are being used to stop vehicles still without tags, as enforcement teams carry out checks across the city.

To facilitate compliance, authorities have expanded installation facilities and extended operating hours. The Excise Department said m-tag installation is currently available at 17 booth locations, while select centers have begun operating beyond normal working hours.

According to Director General Excise Irfan Memon, m-tag centers at 26 Number Chungi and 18 Meel are providing services round the clock, while counters at Kachnar Park and F-9 Park remain open until midnight to accommodate motorists unable to visit during daytime hours.

Officials said the combination of enforcement and facilitation was aimed at achieving full compliance with minimal disruption, adding that operations would continue until all vehicles operating in the capital are brought into the system.

The enforcement drive builds on a wider push by the federal government to integrate traffic management, emergency response and security monitoring through technology-driven “safe city” initiatives. Last month, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi reviewed Islamabad’s surveillance infrastructure and said reforms in monitoring systems and the effective use of technology were the “need of the hour.”

Authorities have urged motorists to obtain electronic tags promptly to avoid delays and penalties at checkpoints as enforcement continues across the capital.

Topics: Electronic vehicle testing electronic tags

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