Meezan Bank bags its 5th ‘Best Bank’ award

Dawn reported that Meezan Bank has taken the top banking honour for a fifth time, collecting it at the 11th Pakistan Banking Awards in Karachi on Friday. Bank of Punjab secured three honours, covering women's inclusion, SME lending and agriculture inclusion. Meezan also picked up the customer engagement prize.

Habib Bank Ltd won the environmental, social and governance (ESG) category, while Bank Alfalah took the Digital Excellence Award. Faysal Bank Ltd and Askari Bank shared the Best Mid-Sized Bank honour. At the ceremony, Bank of Punjab's chief executive, Zafar Masud, surprised attendees by saying the bank would skip entries in every category next year so that rivals could also win.

Speaking earlier at the event, SBP Governor Jameel Ahmad said conditions were encouraging for banks despite challenges from the regional conflict. He noted that private-sector credit penetration remained low, and urged faster digitisation across the sector as government financing needs fell.