KARACHI – The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has introduced key revisions to its Telegraphic Transfer (TT) Charges Reimbursement Scheme to streamline the remittance process and encourage the use of formal financial channels.
Effective from the start of the new fiscal year, the minimum threshold for TT charge reimbursement eligibility has been increased from $100 to $200. In a significant policy shift aimed at enhancing remittance inflows through non-banking channels, the scheme now also includes Exchange Companies (ECs).
For the first time, Exchange Companies can claim TT reimbursements if they fully surrender 100% of the foreign currency received through inward home remittances to the interbank market in U.S. dollars on the same day.
Read More: State bank reserves drops record $4.3b.
According to SBP guidelines, financial institutions and their overseas correspondent entities (OCEs) are strictly barred from charging any fees or commissions to either senders or recipients at any stage of the remittance transaction. Additionally, multiple transactions made by the same sender to the same recipient on the same day will be counted as a single transaction.
The updated framework allows a maximum of five qualifying transactions per month from a single remitter to the same beneficiary via the same OCE. Each eligible transaction will receive a flat rebate of SAR 20.
Furthermore, the SBP has discontinued two incentive programs—the “Incentive Scheme for Marketing of Home Remittances” and the “Exchange Companies Incentive Scheme (ECIS)”—both of which officially ended on July 1.
To safeguard the integrity of the TT reimbursement facility, the central bank has introduced stringent compliance measures. Overseas partners involved in unethical practices, such as splitting transactions to obtain multiple rebates or withholding foreign currency, risk suspension or blacklisting.
