Bank Makramah Review - Halal Finance Products

Bank Makramah Limited is the August 2023 renaming of Summit Bank (itself the former Arif Habib Bank, renamed in 2011), and the new name signals intent rather than status: the bank's own FAQ states that 'the transition process is ongoing' toward Islamic banking, and its June 2026 declared-rates PDF carries an explicit 'BANK MAKRAMAH LIMITED ISLAMIC BANKING' section alongside legacy conventional account grids. It is a scheduled commercial bank - not a microfinance institution, as some older datasets wrongly recorded - and SBP's September 2025 bulletin classified it among conventional banks with Islamic branches (12 Islamic branches plus 31 windows). Its product shelf today is deposits, remittances and cards only: Current, Asaan, PLS and Daily savings variants, the Mahana Amdan term product, an Islamic Savings Certificate, children's, women's and family savings accounts. On financing, the FAQ is direct: new products including car and home finance 'may' be introduced in the future. They do not exist now.

The capital history has to be stated plainly because it is the risk. The third-quarter report of September 2025 disclosed accumulated losses of Rs 51.6 billion, negative equity of Rs 13.14 billion, and 'material uncertainties that may cast significant doubt on the Bank's ability to continue as a going concern' - with paid-up capital (net of losses), CAR and leverage ratio all negative. The State Bank's response was forbearance: an October 17, 2025 letter allowed a Rs 5 billion sponsor deposit to count as 'Advance against Share Subscription' for capital-requirement purposes until March 31, 2026. The remediation that followed was real and fast: an Islamabad High Court-sanctioned Scheme of Arrangement amalgamating Global Haly Development Limited into the bank, cumulative sponsor investment reaching PKR 41 billion from H.E. Nasser Abdulla Hussain Lootah (UAE), a claimed pre-tax profit of PKR 1.75B for nine-month 2025, announced full capital compliance (CAR 11.65%, MCR Rs 15 billion), a January 28, 2026 TFC-holders' resolution converting Rs 3.35B of debt into equity, and VIS ratings reinstated at A-/A2 (Stable) in June 2026 after more than seven years of suspension. What remains outstanding: audited full-year confirmation that the capital position holds, removal of SBP lending restrictions (still pending per the rating agency's commentary), and any completion date for the Islamic conversion.

The Shariah governance is the paradox: it is better than the bank. Chairman Mufti Muhammad Najeeb Khan trained under Mufti Taqi Usmani at Jamia Darul Uloom Karachi, serves simultaneously on Faysal Bank's Shariah Board and chairs Sind Bank's, sits on the AAOIFI Shariah Standard Pakistan Chapter committee, and has served ICAP's interest-free-modes committee since 2003. Mufti Irshad Ahmad Aijaz - chairman of the Shariah boards of the State Bank of Pakistan, the SECP and BankIslami - is a member, making BML's board the resting place of the most networked regulatory scholar in the country. Prof. Dr. Noor Ahmed Shahtaz, Mufti Bilal Ahmed Qazi (also on Soneri Bank's board) and Resident Member Mufti Syed Zubair Hussain (running Shariah compliance here since the Summit era, 2015) complete a five-scholar bench that would credibly govern a full conversion - if the bank completes one. Documentation is published: a fatwa PDF, monthly declared profit rates, August 2026 pool weightages (general and special), and a July–December 2026 rack rate sheet.

The rate sheets themselves are the most honest disclosure about where this bank stands. The June 2026 PDF shows the Islamic side converged at approximately 8.14% across nearly every savings product and tier - Daily Savings, Bachat, Hamara Family, Young Bee, Senior Citizen - which is a competitive rate but whose uniformity suggests administered pooling rather than genuinely differentiated Mudarabah weightages. The same PDF prints the legacy conventional 'BML Classic Account' plans still paying 0.11–0.25% interest. One document, two banking systems: that is the conversion, mid-stream, in primary-source form.

Assessment: we list Bank Makramah because completeness and honesty require it, not because we can recommend it. The equity story (negative to claimed-compliant inside a year, via court-approved amalgamation and sponsor money) is extraordinary and unverified by published audited full-year statements at our review; the Islamic identity is aspirational with genuinely excellent scholars attached; the consumer proposition is a deposits-only shelf at a bank whose SBP classification is still 'conventional with Islamic branches.' If you engage at all: Islamic-side deposits only, within protection limits, with the current declared-rate sheet and schedule of charges in hand - and watch for three milestones before upgrading trust: audited capital confirmation, lifted lending restrictions, and a completed conversion with the conventional schedule of charges retired.