Client Name

Meezan Bank Limited

Faculty Advisor

Dr. Azima Khan

SBS Thought Leadership Areas

Islamic Business and Finance

SBS Thought Leadership Area Justification

This project directly aligns with IBA School of Business Studies’ Islamic Business and Finance thought leadership area. Meezan Bank is Pakistan’s leading Islamic bank with all its products developed around core Islamic banking principles. The Meezan Visa Business Debit Card is no different, applying Islamic finance principles to a transactional banking product. The Shariah-Compliance framework such as the MCC restriction list and SBP’s Consumer Protection Framework through an Islamic lens are embedded into the card ensuring that Shariah-Compliance and commercial competitiveness are not in conflict.

Aligned SDGs

GOAL 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure

Aligned SDGs Justification

This project carries significance beyond the normal bank’s product portfolio. A dedicated Shariah-Compliant business debit card contributes to the financial inclusion element in Pakistan’s banking industry where SME payment infrastructure remains underdeveloped. Migrating the business account holders from personal cards to the business debit card formalizes the banking relationship, improves compliance and enables better risk profiling.

NDA

No

Abstract

Pakistan's SME sector remains underserved by formal financial structure, particularly in the domain of business transactions. The country's largest and one of the leading banks in Pakistan, Meezan Bank, identified a gap in its product portfolio. The bank lacked a dedicated business product in its portfolio despite having a huge business portfolio. Existing clients were relying on standard debit cards to carry out business related transactions – an arrangement that has problems such as transactional limits, compliance risks, and failed to meet the operational scale required by business owners. This Experiential Learning Project (ELP) was designed, in collaboration with Meezan Bank's Cards team in the Consumer Banking department, to design the Meezan Visa Business Debit Card, supported by a thorough competitor analysis, comprehensive Product Paper Manual (PPM) followed by a Business Requirement Document (BRD) and a template designed specifically to conduct a feasibility study. The research and product design combined primary and secondary approach. As mentioned before, a competitive analysis was carried out covering both local and international competition – banks offering similar products, with emphasis on local competition including HBL, MCB, HMB, Faysal Bank, and UBL. The result of this analysis was to examine business debit card features such as transactional limits, card benefits, fee structure, and digital capabilities. The next step, PPM, was complimented by the State Bank's regulatory guidelines, Shariah Compliance requirements, and the bank's internal policies. The team worked in close collaboration with the Card's team at Meezan to translate insights into documentation. The findings revealed a benchmark for the transactional limits for the card, but most importantly, there was no leading shariah compliant bank offering a business debit card. The proposed Meezan Visa Business Debit Card addresses this gap by offering a dual tier limit structure – Standard and Enhanced – with POS limits up to PKR 6 million and IBFT limits up to PKR 10 million. These limits were designed specifically to cater commercial transactions and shows that while the main focus is on the SME sector, the proposed product can cater large businesses as well. The card also features NFC contactless payments, internet and mobile banking, SMS alerts, and a Shariah Compliant Merchant Category Code (MCC) restriction framework. The ELP team recommends that Meezan Bank prioritize the transition of Existing – to – Bank (ETB) customers to the business debit card given the immediate revenue opportunity it presents. Looking at the potential impact of this product, the project aligns with SDG 8 (decent work and economic growth) and 9 (industry, innovation, and infrastructure) of the UNSDGs by promoting financial inclusion and access to formal payment structures.

Document Type

Restricted Access

Document Name for Citation

Experiential Learning Project

Notes

Pakistan’s SME sector remains underserved by formal financial structure, particularly in the domain of business transactions. The country’s largest and one of the leading banks in Pakistan, Meezan Bank, identified a gap in its product portfolio. The bank lacked a dedicated business product in its portfolio despite having a huge business portfolio. Existing clients were relying on standard debit cards to carry out business related transactions. This Experiential Learning Project (ELP) was designed, in collaboration with Meezan Bank’s Cards team in the Consumer Banking department, to design the Meezan Visa Business Debit Card, supported by a thorough competitor analysis, comprehensive Product Paper Manual (PPM) followed by a Business Requirement Document (BRD) and a template designed specifically to conduct a feasibility study. The research and product design combined primary and secondary approach. As mentioned before, a competitive analysis was carried out covering both local and international competition. The next step, PPM, was complimented by the State Bank’s regulatory guidelines, Shariah Compliance requirements, and the bank’s internal policies. The team worked in close collaboration with the Card’s team at Meezan to translate insights into documentation. The findings revealed there was no leading shariah compliant bank offering a business debit card. The proposed Meezan Visa Business Debit Card addressed this gap. Higher limits were designed after looking at competitive scan results specifically to cater commercial transactions and shows that while the main focus is on the SME sector, the proposed product can cater large businesses as well.

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