Bank AL Habib


Bank Al Habib Limited is a Pakistani commercial bank owned by the Dawood Habib family. It is based in Karachi, Pakistan. It has a network of 800. Bank Al Habib is planning to add 200 more branches by the end of 2020.
Bank Al Habib has wholesale branches in Bahrain, Seychelles and Malaysia and offices in UAE, Istanbul, Beijing, and Kenya. By the end of September 2018, the assets of the bank grew up to Rs. 750 billion.
Habib Group's involvement in banking services dates back to 1930s. They launched HBL Pakistan, which was nationalized in 1971 and is still one of the largest banks in Pakistan; since 2002 it has been jointly owned by the government and the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development.
After the privatization scheme announced in 1991 by the Pakistani Government, Habib Group were the first to be granted permission to start a private bank, the Bank AL Habib Limited.

History

The original Habib Bank began modestly in Bombay in 1941 when it commenced operations with a fixed capital of 25,000 rupees. Impressed by its initial performance, Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah asked the Habib Bank to move its operations to Karachi after the independence of Pakistan. It was nationalized in 1974.
Under the privatization policy of Government of Pakistan, the Dawood Habib Group was granted permission to set up a commercial bank. Bank AL Habib was incorporated as a Public Limited Company in October 1991 and started banking operations in 1992. Hamid D. Habib, grandson of the founder a Habib Group, was the first Chairman of Bank AL Habib Limited. He was a Director in Habib Bank Limited from 1954 and its Chairman from 1971 until nationalization. After the death of Hamid D. Habib in May 2000, Ali Raza D. Habib, who was Director on the Board, was appointed the Chairman of the Bank.
Rashid D. Habib, who was the Managing Director of Habib Bank Limited from 1953 till its nationalisation, was appointed as the Managing Director & Chief Executive of Bank AL Habib Limited until he died in 1994. After his death, Abbas D. Habib who was the Joint Managing Director and closely associated with the bank since its inception 1991, was appointed as the Managing Director and Chief Executive of the Bank. In 2016, he was appointed as Chairman.
In 2005, Bank AL Habib began offering internet banking, with accounts and records visible online. In 2006, Bank AL Habib became partners with MasterCard, allowing them to issue credit cards for the first time.

Services

The bank maintains correspondent relations with American Express Bank, USA; Banco di Roma, Italy; Commerzbank and Dresdner Bank, Germany; The Royal Bank of Canada, Canada; and The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, Hong Kong.
The bank follows the internet banking code NetBanking and security is entrusted by Verisign. This was launched with a contract made with TPS Pakistan. The bank supports the MNET Switch as a result of MoU signed between MNET and 1-Link.
Bank AL Habib is one of the eleven partners of 1-Link system, an inter-bank ATM sharing system which allows customers to transact on ATM of any partner bank. Bank AL Habib is the third largest ATM service provider in Pakistan, having 196 ATMs while having the largest number of ATMs in the city of Karachi.
In affiliation with the Arab Financial Services, the bank offers two types of MasterCard.
The bank has a major ownership stake in AL Habib Capital Markets Ltd, a brokerage house working under the logo of Bank AL Habib.

Executive leadership

Former Chairmen and Chief Executives of Bank AL Habib Limited include: Hamid D. Habib, Chairman, Rashid D. Habib, CEO & Managing Director and Ali Reza D. Habib, Chairman.
Bilawal Bukhari King

Branches

The bank has a network of 737 branches and three offshore banking units in Bahrain, Turkey and EPZ.

Pakistan

The bank was selected as one of the top 200 Best Under A Billion companies by Forbes Asia in their annual review of 2005.
The Asian Banker "Strongest Bank Balance Sheet in Pakistan, 2013".