Key Terms to Understand

Let us begin by revisiting a few basic definitions:

Taxable Income

This is the Total Income minus exemptions and any donations that are eligible for deduction from taxation and deductible allowances.

Exemptions:

Exemptions are income heads that are tax-free, therefore “exempt” from taxes.

Total Income

Total Income is the total of all income that is subject to Taxes under each head of Income.

Head of Income

Under the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001, Income is classified into the following five heads of Income:

1. Salary
2. Income from property
3. Income from business
4. Capital gains
5. Income from Other Sources

Resident

A taxpayer is considered a resident (and therefore has to pay taxes) under the following conditions:

• S/he has been living in Pakistan for a period or periods that add up to at least one hundred and eighty-three days (183 days) or more in the tax year;
• If a person individual is in Pakistan for a period or periods that add up to one hundred and twenty days (120) or more in the tax year AND, in the four years before the current tax year, has been in Pakistan for a period or periods that add up to three hundred and sixty-five days or more;
• Is an employee or official of the Federal Government or a Provincial Government posted abroad in the Tax Year?
• An Association of Persons is Resident for a Tax Year if the control and management of its affairs was wholly or partly in Pakistan for any time in that year;
• A Company is treated as a Resident for a Tax Year if :
  • It is incorporated or formed under any law in force in Pakistan;
  • The control and management of its affairs is wholly in Pakistan for any time in the year; or
  • It is a Provincial Government or a local government in Pakistan.

Non-Resident

An Association of Persons, a Company, or an Individual is considered Non-Resident for a Tax Year if they are not Resident for that year. (see requirements for Residents above)

Pakistan Source Income

Source incomes are defined in section 101 of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001. This divides Incomes under varied heads and situations. Some of the common source Incomes are:

• Salary received or receivable from any employment in Pakistan. It doesn’t matter where it is paid.
• Salary paid by, or on behalf of, the Federal Government, a Provincial Government, or a local Government in Pakistan, regardless of where the employment (job) is
• Dividend paid by Pakistan Resident Company.
• Profit on debt paid by a Pakistani Resident Person
• Property or rental Income from the lease of immovable property in Pakistan.
• Pension or annuity paid or payable by a Resident or permanent establishment of a Non-Resident.

Foreign Source Income

Any income which is not a Pakistan source income.

Person

• Any Individual
• A Company or Association of Persons incorporated, formed, organized, or established in Pakistan or elsewhere;
• The Federal Government, a foreign government, a political subdivision of a foreign government, or public international organization

Company

• A Company is defined under the Companies Ordinance, 1984 (XLVII of 1984).
• A ‘body corporate’ formed under any law in force in Pakistan.
• A modaraba.
• A body incorporated by or under the law of a country outside Pakistan relating to the incorporation of Companies;
• An amendment has been made through the Finance Act, 2013 to enlarge the scope of the definition of a Company. Now as per Income Tax Ordinance, 2001 a company includes:
  • A co-operative society, a finance society, or any other society;
  • A non-profit organization;
  • A trust, an entity, or a body of persons established or constituted by or under any law for the time being in force.
• A foreign association, which the Board has, by general or special order, declared to be a company for this Ordinance.
• A Provincial Government.
• A Local Government in Pakistan.
• A Small Company.

Association Of Persons

• Includes a firm (the relation between persons who have agreed to share the profits of a business carried on by all or any of them acting for all).
• A Hindu undivided family
• Any artificial juridical person
• Any body of persons formed under a foreign law but does not include a Company.

Tax Year

• These twelve months that ends on the 30th day of June i.e. on the financial year
• It is mentioned by the calendar year in which the date falls. For example, the tax year for the period of twelve months from July 01, 2017, to June 30, 2018, will be mentioned as the calendar year 2018 and the period of twelve months from July 01, 2018, to June 30, 2019, shall be denoted by the calendar year 2019.

Special Tax Year

This means any period of twelve months and is denoted by the calendar year relevant to the Normal Tax Year in which the closing date of the Special Tax Year falls. For example, the Tax Year for the period of twelve months from January 01, 2017, to December 31, 2017, shall be denoted by the calendar year 2018 and the period of twelve months from October 01, 2017, to September 30, 2018, shall be denoted by the calendar year 2019.

How to Register for Taxes

Any person, a company, or an association of persons (AOP), or foreign national is treated as registered when they are re-enrolled on the Iris portal. The enrollment provides you with a National Tax Number (NTN) or Registration Number and password.

• In the case of individuals, 13 digits Computerized National Identity Card (CNIC) will be used as NTN or Registration Number.

• NTN or Registration Number for AOP and Company is the 7 digits NTN received after e-enrollment.

Both these credentials allow users to access the Iris portal, the online Income Tax system. This is the only way through which online Income Tax Returns can be filed.

Documents needed for e-enrollment for an individual are as follows:

• CNIC/NICOP/Passport number
• Cell phone number in use
• Active e-mail address
• Nationality
• Residential address
• Accounting period

In case you are paying tax on business income you will also need:

• Business name
• Business address
• Principal business activity
• Name and NTN of the employer in case of salary income
• Address of property in case of property income

The principal officer of the company and AOP needs to ensure that the following information is available before starting e-enrollment

• Name of company or AOP
• Business name
• Business address
• Accounting period
• Business phone number
• E-mail address
• Cell phone number of the principal officer of the company or AOP
• Principal business activity
• Address of industrial establishment or principal place of business
• Company type, like public limited, private limited, unit trust, trust, NGO, society, small company, modaraba, or any other
• Date of registration
• Incorporation certificate by Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) in case of a company
• Registration certificate and partnership deed in case of a registered firm
• Partnership deed in case firm is not registered
• Trust deed in case of a trust
• Registration certificate in case of society
• Name of the representative with his CNIC or NTN
• Following particulars of every director and major shareholder having 10% or more shares in case of company or partners in case of an AOP, namely:-
• Name
• CNIC/NTN/Passport and
• Share %

Income tax rates for Individual and AOP

The Income-tax rates of tax applied on the taxable income of every individual and AOP are in the following table:

Rate of Tax for Salaried Individual

You know your taxable income from the tables above and you deduct the deductable allowances from the income figure.

Confused? See the example below:

In case this example is of a salaried individual, there would be no tax due as their taxable income slabs start from an annual income of Rs. 600,000. In the case of self-employed or AOPs the tax would be applied as below:

Sadia Zaheer

Sadia Zaheer holds a Masters in Business Administration from IBA, Karachi. After working in several financial institutions in Client Management, Corporate Lending, Islamic Banking and Product Management she jumped careers to pursue a career in writing.
She is a Finance, Business and HR Development writer with four years of experience. She reads a lot and takes care of her multiple cats to remain calm.

The post A Guide To Personal Taxes In Pakistan appeared first on Smartchoice.pk.

Investing in the stock market is one of the most common means of investing all over the world. There is a whole science to it and for someone looking to start investing for the first time, it can be confusing. This article will help introduce you to the technical world of stock investments.

What are stocks and how can you earn from them?

Stocks or shares are units of ownership of a company. Companies issue shares for the money that they raise. People that buy shares become shareholders of a company. Companies that are established, pay their shareholders some portion of their net earnings. This payment is called dividends if it is paid in cash. Sometimes a company pays its shareholders more stock if it doesn’t have the cash to distribute. The additional shares are called bonus shares.

Types of Shares

Shares can be preferred or common, which yields different returns for shareholders. They are traded in the stock market by specialized vendors called stockbrokers or stock traders. Many people invest in stocks by buying companies’ stocks and hope that the company will pay good dividends. People that purchase stocks for an extended period are known as investors. This type of investment is called passive investment.

Most people investing in stocks are passive investors; however, some people buy and sell stocks regularly. These people are known as day traders or active traders.

Active traders trade in stocks over a short term of maybe a day or up to a month, just to capitalize on the share price fluctuation. A basic rule of thumb is to call investors that trade shares at least ten times a month an active trader. These people try to benefit from rising share prices, buying a share as it rises and then selling it as it reaches the expected peak price. These people usually base their decision on information about the share, the company’s anticipated results, or some other information.

For the average person looking to invest in stocks, bear in mind that it is best to keep things simple. If you do not know the stock market, it is best if you dabble in a mix of low cost, indexed funds to get the most out of your investment in the stock market.

How To Trade In The Stock Market?

To start on your investing journey, you must open a brokerage account. This account can be linked to your bank account for fund transfers.  The most common way to trade shares in the stock market is by trading through stock exchanges. Stock markets are where buying and selling forces influence the trading price of a stock. Through a stockbroker, you can buy shares from existing investors who wish to sell them and vice versa.

Stock market transactions can be of two types, primary and secondary market transactions.

Primary Market

When a company first releases its stock, it is called an Initial Public Offering, usually called an IPO in short.  Since there are regulatory requirements that companies must follow, the IPO must be registered, and the company decides which banks it wants to issue the IPO through.

An IPO specifies a fixed number of shares for a specific price. You must subscribe to the shares through the bank’s IPO offering documents. At times, an IPO can be oversubscribed, which means that more people have subscribed for the IPO than there are shares to be issued. Similarly, an IPO can also be undersubscribed, which means fewer people are looking to buy the stock than there are shares.

In most cases, primary market issues are much lesser in number compared to secondary market trades.

Secondary Market

Stock is traded on stock exchanges in secondary sales. Trading in stocks has to meet specific government regulations. Most of these regulations are in place to protect investors from fraud. Over the long run, stocks usually give better returns on the money you invest in them than other investments.

Brokerage

An investor must trade stocks through brokers or brokerage houses registered with the stock exchange. This does not require the direct involvement of the company. Each stock exchange has a number of brokers and brokerage houses registered. Registered Brokers/brokerage houses are allowed to engage in the execution of trade on others’ behalf as per the laws, rules and regulations. The following points are of key importance if you are opting for trade.

• For protection against fraud and misrepresentation, an investor should trade only through registered brokers/brokerage houses and agents.
• Make sure that the brokerage house, broker or agent you pick is authentic. You can check their registration on the SECP’s uploaded list of registered Stock Exchanges brokers and agents on its website. Remember that the registration of all the brokerage houses/brokers and agents are valid for a period of one year. this registration is renewed annually.
• If you find an unregistered broker or agent, report them immediately to the SECP as it is in the general interest of other investors.
• The list of registered brokerage houses/brokers and agents can also be found on the respective websites of the Exchanges.

 Trading Platform

When assessing a brokerage house or agent to invest in the Stock market, make sure to see how you like their trading platform. An online trading platform helps its users to assess the market through pricing charts and indicators that track stock prices and behaviours. A comprehensive trading platform that is easy to use and understand is essential to place orders on the stock exchange.

Research

Availability of research into industries, sectors and market behavior can be helpful in making informed and sensible decisions about shares in your portfolio. Having market information is important to successful stock trading. Having informed market research and other information is useful.

Steps to open a brokerage account

You need the following to open a brokerage account:

• CNIC
• A Pakistani bank account.
• Salary slip; if you are self-employed, provide a bank statement. This helps in having swift credit history checks.
• You must research which brokerage will work for you and then visit them physically once.
• Once you finish all the paperwork and admit all the documents, you will have to wait for 1-2 weeks.
• After the verification and account processing is done, you will be granted access to trade with stock exchange issued stocks.

Once the account opening formality is completed you will not need to visit your brokerage firm as the majority of dealings and trades will be handled online on the platform.

Benefits of Investing in Stocks

At times, the stock market over or underprices shares based on market and industry trends. Similarly, the stock market undervalues shares based on negative news and events. These events and news could be directly related to the company or could impact it indirectly by being connected to the industry that the company works in.

This can be confusing for investors as while the company’s financials and valuation are the same, the market price is affected by different news or events. An example would be shares prices falling after a poor World Cup performance.  Unrelated and related events can influence prices for the short term but this is not relevant for passive investing we discussed above.

In spite of the challenges, investing in shares has some benefits to offer:

1.    Capital Gain

A strong fluctuation in stock prices can give you a better gain from your investment than a simple long term investment. As stock prices change every day, this makes stocks a sound long-term investment.

2.     Dividends

Established and well-performing companies in the shareholder market offer dividends and bonus shares to their shareholders at the end of each financial year. This allows for capital appreciation if you continue to reinvest the dividends you receive. The more shares you own, the more profit you will earn at the end of each financial year.

3.    Liquidity

Investing in shares is a liquid investment. Most shares can be easily bought and sold on any working day on the stock market

How to Trade in Stocks

The underlying concept behind investing is simple, you know the price of something and the predictions or forecasts for the price. Ideally when it’s available for a lower price in the market, you buy it. This is kind of like buying a product on sale. It’s the same product, but you buy it for less. This means that you save money while investing in something worthwhile

Bear in mind that it is better to see the financial analysis on the company’s financials, keep an eye on its dividend payouts, revenue, cash flows, events related to the industry, its brand target market, and its competitive edge.  This is where your broker’s research should be useful.

The more information you have, the more reliable your buying decision is going to be. The process of analyzing a company’s financials as well as non-financial components is known as intrinsic analysis.

Since such analysis involves multiple factors, many investors make mistakes in their stock valuation.

Why All Investors Should Be Careful of Stock Prices

As an investor, you should realize that the stock market is complex and unpredictable for even the most seasoned investors. If the market is rising, it is time for any investor to sell off their short-term holdings and gain based on the rising market.

Most newbies and even some seasoned investors get excited by rising trends and buy specific stocks rising daily. Investors’ buying interests usually drive such rises, and there is no guarantee of how long such rising trends, known as rallies, would continue.

When you go to a mall, you don’t walk into a store and buy just anything. You usually have a list or know what you want to buy and which shops to go into to browse. The same should hold for investing in the stock market.

You should have a list of sectors, stocks, and performance history to know which stock performance and valuation fits into your investment preference or risk appetite. Ideally, you should also know which stock should be bought at which price range and sold off at what level.

Some basic rules to follow before you start investing in a new stock are:

1. Always research the company you are planning to invest in. What is their business, and which products do they sell? Do the products have a steady demand? Is the competition strong? Does the company have the muscle and capacity to supply the product?
2. How long has the company been in business? Does it have a good stock performance record?
3. Does it have sound Corporate Governance policies?

The stock market is all about news and perceptions. It is fueled and runs on the information. But should you invest in shares based on the news? A hot tip from a dealer or your broker should be taken with some healthy scepticism.

A golden rule is to buy on the rumour and sell on the news. Institutional investors would already be aware of the rumours, and jumping onto the buying bandwagon will only reduce your margins if there are any left. For instance, if market rumours claim that a company is due to get a big contract, its share price would start rising and would cross its intrinsic and fundamental valuation.

People begin to buy based on the rising trend, and the price would increase further. Once the rumour is proven to be false, everyone who bought during the rise would stand to lose money. However, if you had already purchased before the rumours and sold during the rise, then you stand to gain from your investment.

Buying based on rumours and news means that the stock price has already risen to accommodate the rumour prices and would be priced higher than its actual prices. You need to bear in mind that the stock market is fluid; it cannot remain high or low for an indefinite period. You have to follow market prices and pick up stocks when they are at low points.

Sadia Zaheer

Sadia Zaheer holds a Masters in Business Administration from IBA, Karachi. After working in several financial institutions in Client Management, Corporate Lending, Islamic Banking and Product Management she jumped careers to pursue a career in writing.
She is a Finance, Business and HR Development writer with four years of experience. She reads a lot and takes care of her multiple cats to remain calm.

The post All you need to know about investing in Pakistan’s Share Market appeared first on Smartchoice.pk.

Finances are amongst the most important part of life for people anywhere in the world. Getting finances right is one of the pillars to building a successful marriage. Research has shown that money is the primary reason for marital conflict in couples, regardless of their age bracket.

Disagreements about money are the top forecast parameter of whether a couple will stay together or not. Arguments about money take longer to recover from and cause resentment and further conflict.

In managing money together, there should be clarity about who will bear what expenses, especially if one partner earns more than the other. If both partners are earning and plan to continue to do so, managing money as a couple can be awkward to sort out with two salaries and two (different) financial situations joining. Or one partner has an existing debt burden or financial responsibilities like family support or student debt to pay off. In such cases, a clear decision needs to be made by both partners to ensure a clear distinction of finances.

Regardless of whether you are just getting started on the financial aspects of your relationship or you’ve been trying to work things out for a while, there are some different ways money can be managed as a couple. Follow the tips below to improve your money management and marital life.

Managing Money with a Single Income

If only one spouse is earning, they will be the one managing the marriage’s finances. However, the non-earning spouse can help reduce expenses by managing the budget in any way possible.

Insurance

If a spouse is unemployed and looking for work, learn from this and opt to get some form of insurance to cover any emergency. Insurance in any form acts as a buffer between financial crises in case the earning partner falls sick or is unable to work due to physical issues.

Having an insurance policy helps to protect the couple financially, allowing them to maintain their expenses and pay bills.

Joint Account for Expenses

Managing the expenses of a household and managing to save is even more important if only one is earning. It is better to manage savings and limit expenses by having a joint account for household expenses. This will allow for the budgeted expenses to be managed better.  Savings should be kept separate in another account that is not easily accessible by either spouse. Plan for any emergency and make sure that your spouse knows which accounts are for which purpose and enlist them as next of kin so that in case of sudden death or incapacity, your finances are manageable by your spouse.

Combined Finances

If both spouses are working, an agreed amount from both incomes can be deposited into the joint family expenses account, and both spouses use the account for all joint household (or agreed upon expenses). This allows for tracking the expenses and should help control the joint budget. All expenses and savings are managed from the pooled income.

Doing this will require both spouses to sit down and discuss their incomes and household expenses. After this, a reasonable household budget for joint use should be easy to finalize. This joint budget should be set according to a mutual agreement, and it should be manageable for both incomes.

Doing this will require cooperation about personal expenses and impulse buys. Whatever the parameters, they should be clarified here so that there is no argument about spending in the future.

Combined Finances with Individual Pocket Money

In this option, both partners combine their incomes into the joint account, and all expenses and savings are managed from the pooled income. One of the expenses is pocket money for both spouses for their personal use.

This can be a better option for couples with a shopaholic spouse. This helps to avoid arguments by giving the impulsive partner money to spend as they wish, without affecting the joint expenses or affecting savings. The other partner also gets money to spend as they wish.

The details need to be agreed upon; however, is the pocket money equal? Or based on the contribution to the joint account? What spending will be done under pocket money? Dining out? Gifts for each other? All these questions need to be settled.

Separate Finances

In this method, both incomes are kept separate. Both spouses manage their budgets, bills, and expenses. There are no joint bank accounts, budget, or bills. Both control their income and are financially independent. However, this is an impractical (and impossible to manage) option as you will be living together and managing the house, its utilities, and grocery expenses.

This separation allows the responsible spouse to protect their income from their spouse’s irresponsibility. Ideally, the couple splits expenses in this situation, like the husband pays the utilities and the wife manages the grocery bill. This may be a better option for higher-income earners as they can manage their separate responsibilities without needing assistance. It can also allow for better financial management if one spouse is not responsible for financial management.

Share all Expenses Equally

In this technique, all expenses are divided equally for all agreed expenses. This means that all agreed-upon expense heads like dining out, groceries, utilities, and insurance payments are all split equally and shared. Many couples swear by this method as agreed-upon expenses are easily managed without argument, and most have money left over to save and spend as they want.

However, this method is only fair if both spouses earn in similar income brackets. If the income brackets are different, the lesser earner will face a strain and have lower money left for saving and personal spending. If added to the joint spending pool, this method will also affect long-term decisions like insurance policies, house loans, etc.

The lower earner will not afford the new expense and may not agree to opt for it. in such cases, you can decide to reevaluate the joint financials for long term financial planning

Share Expenses By Income Percentage

In this method, a fixed percentage of each partner’s income goes to paying the joint bills. This ensures that the person making more money contributes a larger percentage for the bills. The person making less pays less. If you earn 60% of the income, you will pay 60% of the bills.

There are various ways to manage this, but the easiest is to have all accounts separate, with one joint account for joint expenses with equal access for both spouses. List down how much you both earn and add it up. The individual income divided by the total income w3will give you the percentage income for both partners.

Add up total average expenses and multiply by the income percentages to get the amount you will need to pay to manage the joint expenses.

To sum up, there is no fixed formula to budgeting, and when there are two individuals and incomes involved, the task becomes even more complex. However, you can always use a mix and match approach, using the larger income for spending and the lower-income for savings.

While saving and managing expenses is the main goal, you can always change the approach to see which works best. You can always try one method and switch to another after a month or more. The key is to remember that you are a team now and need to work together to plan for a better future together. It is important for a couple to be involved in financial decisions and agree upon all major decisions.

Sadia Zaheer

Sadia Zaheer holds a Masters in Business Administration from IBA, Karachi. After working in several financial institutions in Client Management, Corporate Lending, Islamic Banking and Product Management she jumped careers to pursue a career in writing.
She is a Finance, Business and HR Development writer with four years of experience. She reads a lot and takes care of her multiple cats to remain calm.

The post Tips On How To Manage Money After Marriage appeared first on Smartchoice.pk.

In addition, many private employees have gone through the unprecedented challenges of the pandemic lockdown with half, cut or even no pay. It makes sense to have a backup source of income more than ever before.

Even if the growing costs of living weren’t a factor, having a secondary source of income is always a good idea. Earning money on the side, whether for meeting financial needs or as a hobby makes sense.

Let’s explore things that you can do on the side to increase your income.

1.  Call Center, Web Site Support

Pakistan falls among the cheapest English speaking population in the world. Many businesses from the US, UK, Australia, and Canada look for low cost but fluent English speakers for call centre, customer service and website chat support jobs. If you have a good accent, and typing speed you can work part-time and opt for work from home options. You need to have a strong English speaking and typing speed for such jobs.

Many such jobs are available on freelancing platforms like Fiverr, Upwork, and Freelancer. However, getting a project is a matter of consistency and patience. There are many fraudsters also looking to get work done for free so make sure that you use your common sense in dealing with people on any platform.

2.   Start a Blog, vLOG, or Instachannel

Assess yourself and your hobbies, do you enjoy gardening? Or do you love animals? Can you give 1 or 2 hours of your day daily willingly to this hobby? Based on the answers to these questions, you can decide to write (blog), record or photograph your activities to make a blog, vlog or Instagram or YouTube channel about your hobby. Many people start blogging about fashion, makeup, technology, cars, cooking, celebrities, entertainment, and gossip. Many others write about other channels and media accounts. The key is to have good quality and not to copy other channels. Originality is always welcome.

You must make sure that you have enough material to write or speak about for at least six months. And if you want to write, make sure that you are comfortable writing about whatever you decide to write about.

Once you have a certain level of visitors, usually over 1000 visits a day, you can have ads placed on your account. This is usually done through Adsense or Info link.

3.   Data Entry

Data entry is a skill that is in the most demand on most freelancing platforms. Data entry is all about typing. You need to have basic level English and good typing speed to get the job done. However, usual data entry projects need a lot of time. It is better to pick up one-off small projects from freelancing platforms like Freelancer, Fiverr and Upwork.

Again, all freelancing platforms require effort to bid for projects and it takes time to build up a client base.

4.   Reselling Products

One new side business that has grown with the growth of online shopping is that of reselling goods. Many people are going for reselling clothes, perfumes, cosmetics, mobile accessories, kitchen and household items and even small electronics. It usually involves designing a Facebook or Instagram page. Many resellers build a WhatsApp group for broadcasting live sessions to their regular clientele. The main requirement is to build up a client base and sell whatever items you can earn a profit off.

This is a fairly easy market to get into and is also competitive as many people are

5.   Referral Marketing

For those with a strong social network, you can utilize your contacts to refer them to businesses. This is similar to what bloggers and social media influencers do through their channels.

6.   Photos and Digital Artwork

There is a steady stream of demand for unusual images of everyday objects. Similarly, digital art is something that is taking off in a big way and if you have an aptitude for digital art, you can earn a good income by picking up projects through local advertisement and media agencies as well as through freelancing platforms.

7.   Arts and crafts

If you have a unique skill, like making wooden items, jewellery, knitting and crochet, or painting, you can make things in your free time and sell them online via OLX, Facebook or Instagram.

8.   Part-Time Accountant, Bookkeeper and Office Assistant

Many small businesses are willing to hire people to manage their accounts, do basic bookkeeping or manage their office schedules if it will save them money. These are all activities that can be done remotely. Since our time zones are different, you can easily pick up a job that requires 1-2 hours of work from you at night or over the weekends. One person I knew used to do this work during their lunch break at work.

In the case of accounting, you need to be familiar with Google Suite, QuickBooks and Cloud services.  Many agencies are available online that are looking for bookkeepers and virtual assistants to source jobs to.

9.   Online Tutoring

Tutoring students, whether physically or remotely is a great option, particularly for people good in tough subjects like maths, physics, accounting, and finance. Many agencies are available that source skilled tutors for foreign students.

Similarly, many people look for online support for life coaching in key issues like positivity, fitness, weight loss, and public speaking. These are all fields in which both physical and real-time support can be offered to earn a decent income.

10.   Social Media Management

Like the items listed here are mainly based on using social media, many businesses also need to hire someone to help manage their social media presence. This is a very diverse field. Some businesses need someone to design posts and caption pictures for their social media accounts. Others require more advanced promotional campaign designs and posts on various forums. Some also just need someone to handle customer queries and book orders for them. This is something that can be managed after some trial and error.

These job options need to be approached with some research and caution. All can generate a substantial income on the side for you and can become an alternate career if you want to take it as a full-time career.

However, like all things, side income streams need time and effort to give results. Many scammers and frauds are operating, both in Pakistan and on online forums and platforms.

Many scamming sites look to get information from you to use for malicious purposes that pose as reliable clients and businesses paying high salaries. Work hard, but don’t be so eager to get work that you skip doing your background research into the site, business that you are in contact with. Look for site reviews, google the client’s name or the company he/she represents. A very useful resource in background checks is LinkedIn. You can always see if the person you are talking to is actually working for the company they claim to represent.

Seasoned recruiters working online are aware of the scams that freelancers face and genuine recruiters or clients are willing to accommodate freelancers’ conditions when starting work. Never hand a project over without partial or advance payment. Make sure to finalize payment terms as well as payment gateways if getting clients from some website and not through freelancing platforms. Some clients do not have flexibility in payment gateways and the payment terms should be clear before you work on their project.

Freelancing platforms take a percentage of your earnings, and many clients fool new freelancers by finalizing work terms off the platform to “save” commission charges. This is a huge red flag. Never agree to work off-platform without advance or full payment. Almost all freelancers and remote workers have a horror story to share of scams and losses they faced due to lack of research and moving off-platform.

Sadia Zaheer

Sadia Zaheer holds a Masters in Business Administration from IBA, Karachi. After working in several financial institutions in Client Management, Corporate Lending, Islamic Banking and Product Management she jumped careers to pursue a career in writing.
She is a Finance, Business and HR Development writer with four years of experience. She reads a lot and takes care of her multiple cats to remain calm.

The post 10 ways to increase your income in Pakistan while working full time appeared first on Smartchoice.pk.

The Asaan Account is focused on the common people. It is available to all low income unbanked/under-banked people who face difficulties in account opening due to complicated account opening requirements or lesser means of access. It particularly focuses on the low income segments of the population and women from all segments who do not operate their accounts due to limited mobility, excessive documentation, and lack of accessibility to traditional banking avenues.

Sadia Zaheer

Sadia Zaheer holds a Masters in Business Administration from IBA, Karachi. After working in several financial institutions in Client Management, Corporate Lending, Islamic Banking and Product Management she jumped careers to pursue a career in writing.
She is a Finance, Business and HR Development writer with four years of experience. She reads a lot and takes care of her multiple cats to remain calm.

The post Everything you need to know about the Asaan Mobile Account appeared first on Smartchoice.pk.

Payment gateways play a significant role in the eCommerce industry in Pakistan. Businesses often face the problem of finding the best payment gateway for their stores when they have to sell their products or services online.

We are here to help you shortlist a potential payment partner by giving you a list of the best payment gateway in Pakistan.

Payment Gateways

Before we list the payment gateways, it is necessary to know what an online payment gateway is and how it works. Simply put, a payment gateway is a system through which payments (usually online) are managed and their details transferred to the concerned banks.

Usually, when you buy things online, you give in your credit or debit card details on a special payment portal that opens after you opt to pay. This secured portal is the front face of the payment gateway. A payment gateway works as a liaison between a buyer, seller, and the seller’s bank.

As technology has expanded, so have security concerns about financial data security. With online commerce growing in popularity, no one wants to have their financial data at risk. This has increased the focus on having an effective payment processing system that secures both the buyer and seller from financial crime.

The primary purpose of payment gateways is to ensure security and facilitate smooth and low cost digital transactions. With the growth of eCommerce, the demand for accessible, safe, and secure transaction processing is a growing focal point for Pakistani consumers and entrepreneurs. E-commerce stores, online retailers, online booking, and reservations providers for travel sites are all examples of businesses that need to accept online payments from their clients.

Payment Gateways managed by Banks in Pakistan

Since payment gateways are the digital versions of banking services, several banks provide online payment processing services. Since payment gateways can be taken as the digitization of a bank’s key business, it makes sense for banks to specialize in this segment.

At present, three banks are offering online payment gateway services. These are HBL, MCB and UBL.

Sadia Zaheer

Sadia Zaheer holds a Masters in Business Administration from IBA, Karachi. After working in several financial institutions in Client Management, Corporate Lending, Islamic Banking and Product Management she jumped careers to pursue a career in writing.
She is a Finance, Business and HR Development writer with four years of experience. She reads a lot and takes care of her multiple cats to remain calm.

The post The best payment gateways for e-commerce businesses in Pakistan appeared first on Smartchoice.pk.

• The article highlights the ways and means through which effective work-from-home scheduled can be maintained without compromising on the quality of the work and a few quick tips to work with complete concentration.
• The article also encompasses some effective self-development tips to spend the quarantined time on self-development which would help you to learn and hone your skills for career advancements.
• This articles also talks emphasize on the time at hand and actual and strategic utilization of the given time and resources at hand.

Things are already heading towards a situation, a scenario that none of us ever thought about nor imagined it to be happening to us. Looking at the present scenario we can just assume that it’s about to more haywire and weird.
But, during this time of an epidemic spread and become a haunting reality, we need to keep our hopes and our morale up by remembering quotes and understanding that’ it’s not the situation that makes you a person you are but it’s the way you react to the certain situation shows the kind of person you are and how do you react in the face of adversity.

Keeping that in perspective, you need to ensure that during that period you are functioning positively and don’t become mundane and non-productive. So to ensure that we have spent some time compiling everything you need to remain a functioning and active member of society while working from your living room, bedroom, sitting room, etc. And when we say everything…we mean everything.

1st thing first: Stay Informed and updated

While living in the pandemic situation, when you’re living out your best socially distanced life or we can even say your quarantined life. You should always stay up-to-date with the latest COVID-19 news by visiting WHO, and other social media platforms and official statistics platforms through the internet or any other reliable and verifiable sources.

The most important thing that you need to remember is

You need to Stay Productive While Working From Home

From history, we have seen that Shakespeare penned King Lear while the plague epidemic had created a storm in the whole of Europe and due to which theaters had shutdown. Keeping this in mind, let’s find out ways how you can accomplish something that can be of benefit to mankind or anything of equal value for the generations to come.

Set a proper working station

It is recommended by many experts and researches that, “setting up a specific workstation” helps you transform into “work mode”. If the set-up workstation you don’t feel productive and feel that not able to generate the desired results change you’re chosen spot.
Few things that can help you concentrate and become productive, it would help you play the due role and be an essential part of the work-force
Scent: The aroma brings you a sense of peace and calm, open your eyes and focus on the tasks at hand, the scents we recommend are eucalyptus or mahogany.
Sound: play a sound or any music that creates an environment that enables happening of work and makes it easy and interesting to uptake work and be productive working from home.

Scheduling/Planning

Create a time table and schedule that gives you feel that you’re “in office” every single day, and be prepared to start your work at that time. Then, also decide on the time that you “log-off” for that day and mark your attendance for that day on your work calendar. Understanding and embracing time restraints would help you keep all four essentials going (friends, family, work, and health). Don’t forget to plan in…
Cooking and eating, so you don’t end up eating all the junk and the food you are not supposed to have, also make sure that you don’t take too frequent breaks to cook three-course meals (too fancy or elaborate meals).

If you are Leading a team

Simulate in-person contact: Set up virtual “coffee chat breaks” and “happy hours” more that you would usually plan/conduct normally when working from the office. Since working from home you can’t tap and pat people on the shoulder virtually, and it’s better and would be more conducive to the business is to save up your Slack ideas and feedback/comment/criticism for an actual conversation that you can have with you sub-ordinate later on.
One thing you can also ask employees to check in every morning at a specified time and to mention in their schedules when they plan to take a break or head off to have lunch.

Harvard Business has a list of resources to help you effectively lead amid COVID-19.

What should be the Things to Do When You’re Not Working

Many things can be done when you are not working, which will impact your life positively
One thing that can you up your game is learning of “new skills”
Spend your time productively while others are watching “Netflix and Chilling” we recommend that you should take up a new skill that would open your mind to a new world and would also help you to improve your life chances.

Follow artists and people sharing skills through social media videos or live sessions.

• Tips for learning new skills fast: Take Short Breaks, Early And Often
  450 free Ivy League online classes
• Free educational courses offered due to school closings.
• Find some amazing courses on Coursera and Udemy which can aid your professional skills and help you become better at it, providing you the needed edge at your workplace.

Read Books

This is the time, take you the long-awaited list of “BOOKS-TO-READ” and start looking for the books, while everything is on lockdown you may not find all of your desired books but you might find some of the books online that would be a savior in the time of being inside and being in quarantine.
Books as said to be “Mans’ best friend” call upon this best friend today when you just need the right amount of distraction and deviation from all the gloomy thoughts that may cloud over your mind.

Exercise

Exercise is very important while being lockdown as well, as we have the energy that needs to be used ad channelized since the lockdown happened so sudden and quick that many of us were unable to stock up of some yoga mats or weights, but even if you were unable to do there are multiple alternatives to such items.

Spend some of your time surfing on internet to find the right replacement that is available at your home and start your day with 30 minutes of a simple and effective exercise plan, it will not only keep you alert and fresh for the rest of the day but would also help you feel fit while you are indoors and eating food untimely and not realizing it.
Also, you may find multiple apps on google play store and IOS app store that would facilitate your workouts with a proper streamed exercise routine…so just find the right exercise routine and go for it.
Being at home you can do Yoga, Cardio, aerobic and a few simple exercises very easily.

If you don’t know what kind of workout you want to do, here are some free apps with plenty of options: Try Aaptiv or Neoufitness for 30 days, and Peloton’s not-just-cycling app or ASICS Studio Fitness’s trainer-led classes for 90 days.
Sites: Classpass is free and unlimited right now.

Stay connected to others: connection is the key

The WHO has shared some tips on how to deal with anxiety and apprehension. Here are a few things mentioned that you can do if you are stuck somewhere alone or even if you are stuck at home.
Ask and get to know how your friends and family are doing, are they doing okay, because as you need someone might also need someone to check on them and make them feel better.
Find ways to play your part in society and also how you play your role remotely in this time of crisis.

Staying home with “Family” make each moment count, this may be a blessing n disguise to spend time with your family that you have been unable to do so due to work and classes. Take a minute to appreciate your loved ones and spend some super amazing “FAMILY TIME” or we sat, bring back the “HOUSE PARTY”.

Cooking

Explore the inner you, cooking can be something of a hidden talent/power of yours. Go and find it, it should not make you a gourmet cook but it can be as simple as cooking a cheese omelet or making lentils and beans.
You can learn cooking via Instagram/Facebook by following some channels and also might have access to free online classes to cooking.

Learning cooking does not mean you go out each day to get things for your meals, try to minimize your grocery trips as much as you can, try and create pantry and freezer-friendly dishes and meals that can be stored and would lessen your exposure to the external environment.

Clean up your life- add and subtract, add good things and subtract negativity

Digital: Delete old and redundant data, so that you have space for the new data, delete things that are old and taking up space, also you can transfer some of the old data to your laptops/desktops for archives purposes
Clean up your desktop (since you have time on your hand, delete the files from your desktop and make proper drives, add relevant data in relevant folders to make sorting and searching of the data easier)
Delete unused apps and material, update your software.

Physical: Clean out your closet and drawers, discard the unused and if giveaway extras or something which you would not like to wear to the poor/needy.
Clean your room and your personal space, the more clutter around the more occupied you are mental.

During this time it’s also just okay to have some Fun

Watch…movies any genre that you prefer, listen to music-anything that brings you peace or tranquility, listen to the podcast, watch your favorite series on Netflix and Amazon Prime, play video games, enjoy corona memes, use social media and keep yourself updated and up breast with the recent happenings around you, increase your cultural knowledge, take upon the favorite writer and read.
Do anything and absolutely everything that is fun and you enjoy doing in your free time (the time in which you are not scheduled to work)

So many people are working from home, some of the luckier lots have gotten off from work and are not required to be active and working on their assignments, if you are an employee and if your employees are now working from home or in some manner working remotely, many of you must have already worked out the infrastructure curves: Between email, phone calls, texts, and messaging platforms (Slack, Microsoft Teams, zoom, etc.), communicating and collaborating may not be perfect and 100 percent on point… but you’re making it work, keeping the situation at hand in mind.

This on-going situation provides the picture-perfect opportunity since you don’t have any choice to shift to a more effective and operational leadership style.

So don’t be desirous to create a comprehensive and descriptive list of expectations, guidelines, procedures, policies and worst of all, potential repercussions or consequences.

Your work from the home policy can be as simple as, these three short sentences:

Get your work done.
Be available.
Over-communicate.

Yep. That’s it and you are good to go….

You need to trust the process and the evolution that comes with it, remember that How people work? When they do their work? Whether and if they’re incredibly efficient and able to get all their work done in the given stipulated time, or whether they relatively take longer and take more hours than they should be working… except any intra-day deadlines, who cares, right? The main concern should be the work done and the results required.
For example, Bill Gates used to memorize employee license plates so he could look out the window to see who was still at work. Eventually, he realized that managing by results was more important… and much better use, as a leader, of his time.

So don’t worry about things like how many hours your employees work? Lead and manage by expectations and deliverables/results, not by virtual micro-management and how many hours they have spent sitting in one-place doing a lot or nothing.

What matters is and important is to get work done.

The employees should also realize that its the same for the employees as well that they should be “AVAILABLE” and some active link of “COMMUNICATION” is established during the work hours, if the work and organization require their presence should be mandatory. It should be without having said employees should communicate problems, issues, challenges… as well as ideas, suggestions, and opportunities.

One should pro-active in their approach towards the work and team so just say that. “This is a challenging and perplexing situation, and everyone needs to do best in their parts, especially if they have ideas that make the situation better.

Aside from that? One thing that needs to be remembered is that treat your employees like the professionals they are. The belief that they know the situation and understand correctly what’s at stake.

It’s time to trust them and have faith that they would step up.
Something we all consciously or subconsciously know those good employees don’t need policies. They just want to know what needs to get done.

Khurram Zahid

The post A Guide for Work from Home for SMEs during Corona Virus Pandemic appeared first on Smartchoice.pk.

A simple question but an important one that may arise is the parameter which should employ to measure employee productivity which can be measured in any business or project. Their multiple means and ways to measure the required.

One is the qualitative method that can help you analyses the quality of the work that is being produced by the said employee and the second is quantitative methods by tracking costs and time to compare that against the results produced, amongst the two easier the quantitative method as the end result is in hard numbers and helps business determines its way forward based on performance that can be judged through numbers.

Employee and office/factory efficiency are a little like the oxygen we breathe for sustenance. It plays an important role in keeping your company prospering and thriving. So when you have a workforce that produces results and is usually self-starter nothing should worry you.

But

If there is a pregnant pause in productivity and things become laboured, it can affect the run of the mill operations and even the most standard procedures may come to halt.
The costs and overhead of ignoring lagging employee productivity and the basic unhealthy company culture are steep and one of the main reasons where the employee does not find a carrot as a reward to work for, as the newest study suggests. Disengaged employees have higher rates of absenteeism and turnover, which can drag down profits and even limits the company’s prospects of growth and progression.

A simple yet at the same time complex and intricate questions that may bother/make every employer curious are:

But how do you get to that point?
What turns a poor performer into a productivity powerhouse?
How do you make your employees more productive?

The answer to these questions is very simple and can yield great results, making both the employers and employees go an extra mile…..

The vital thing here is also to understand the importance of employee productivity
The resolution or a primary goal for any company is to be successful and fruitful in its endeavours, we all are aware the effectiveness and productivity of an employee can make or break the success of a company. There are two main elements which conclude whether employees are successful at their work:

Productivity – the amount of work completed
Effectiveness is the amount of effort put into that work

Some people may spend a lot of time finishing a small amount of work, these individuals are more effective than productive, as they are meticulous about the task they perform and are more focused on the quality of the work.

Some individuals may get a lot of work done in a small amount of time these people are more productive than effective, as they are able to produce more work in the given time than the aforementioned.

As an employee, you should focus on both your productivity and your effectiveness, and should aim to put maximum effort into your given task or work, and accomplish as much work as you can as efficiently and as effectively as possible.

You can achieve and reap a lot of benefits and success in a given company if you are able to produce the desired results because if the employee generates good results, the business:
Becomes More Profitable
Grows
Meets Consumer Demand
Remains Competitive

In essence, any company to be relevant in the market and to survive the employees need to be motivated enough to yield positive, not only positive but profitable results.
Below are some points, which are important and need to be kept in mind while dealing/running day-to-day operations that shall increase employee productivity at work.

Delegate= Divide Responsibilities

Delegation is a very important and vital for employees and employer as it develops confidence in the workforce that the management considers them responsible/ trust them enough to delegate the with certain task or jobs.

The sense of delegations also carries some amount of risk; as if under-performed it may cause reputation to the company. But according to multiple studies, when qualified employees are given responsibilities and trusted with their jobs they achieve great results and perform the task with utmost commitment and passion.

The delegation also enhances the ownership towards the given task and at a certain level towards the overall organization as well. So if given chance to the employees to mature their skills and get leadership experience, it will in the larger picture benefit the employer only and for the individual, it would fulfil them with a sense of achievement that would help them later in the career as well.

Reduce Distractions

At workplace “The more, The Merrier” proverb doesn’t apply, you should try and ensure certain policies that curb distractions, for instance, excessive usage of phone and social media. You should not be imposing “A NO-PHONE Policy” but at the same time keep them engaged and focused in a way that they can have that breathing room while performing their tasks.

For example: encourage employees not to use their phones while working, but allow them to take short breaks at regular intervals to check their phones/social media, one thing that will be a guarantee to the employers would be the time spent at the desk, while working would be surely more productive, with better output.

Improve workplace environment

One thing that must be kept in mind is to keep your “employee comfortable” provide him/her with an environment that the focus and energies remain on the task at hand rather than constantly turning the conditioner up or down, keep the environment cosy and calm according to the relevant season, remember to set thermostats accordingly in summers and winters for that set an ideal temperature that seems like a perfect atmosphere to be working in.

Practice Positive Reinforcement

It is a proven fact that when the employees are motivated and encouraged they perform better, employees do not only feel motivated through financial rewards or incentives, although these rewards go long way if on performance an employee can earn a commission or a holiday package or a voucher to its favourite restaurant.

But providing constructive criticism, helping the employ by working through his grey areas, celebrating his success although with one small “Samosa” can cultivate a sense of fulfilment and a sense contentedness that would motivate them more and they’re more likely to put increased productivity high up on their to-do list.

Stress- A no Starter for Productivity

A stressful and tense workplace will not yield any kind of results and would definitely hamper the productivity of an Employee. Workers that constantly function under highly stressful conditions are found to be less productive and have higher levels of disconnection and absenteeism from their workplace and their assigned roles as well.

One thing that needs to be repeated as a “MANTRA” is that they need to be happy and relaxed! That doesn’t mean that they should have no deadlines or no tasks that shall be linked to their performance evaluation. But it means that they shouldn’t be pressed enough or panicked to make it sound like do-or-die situation for them.

A qualified and self-starter employee would value the employer’s given space and trust and would definitely perform to his utmost potential and produce quantifiable results.
If you want your staff to work to perform best of their ability, try out things like open communication, focus on confidence-building measures and self-care, it is eminent that company culture has trust and belief amongst the co-workers and should function as a team.

The sense of belonging can yield great results as people who hate their jobs and feel subjugated and disqualified or underappreciated may go through the motions, but burnout is all but inevitable.

So the ingredients mentioned above are vital to the company’s culture and overall productivity. While creating a company culture that fosters positive morale isn’t always easy, the important thing is to just start and show that you care.

Encourage independence/self-sufficiency by not micromanaging

According to the experts, one of the main ingredients to increase the productivity of an employee is to ask the superiors to back-off. The best way forward is to encourage and motivate individuals to take ownership and be in charge of their assigned task and effectively manage their own time and resources in a way that saves time and money of an organization.

“This is a wonderfully self-correcting process: we want people who are self-starters and are able to operate independently. Granting workers freedom over when, how, and where they work creates proof of their work ethic in a way that trying to control them cannot.” (Source: Slaughter)

According to the scientific study, it has been proven that when employs are given autonomy and freedom of decision making they are motivated and feel more empowered, it also works more effectively than even financial rewards.

Usually, micromanagement is like a second skin to the managers as they cannot keep their hands-off their organizational affairs and are in habit of it. The managers and the superiors need to work over more strategic level than constantly working on day to day operations and managing these tasks that need to delegate.

Trust me….being out of the mix is actually pretty hard as the managers are in habit of being part of the mix at every level. The managers need to coach their sub-ordinates to manage their affairs rather than constantly doing it for them.

When manager continuously hovers over the employees the employee gets confused and tend to perform slower or poor and is a continuous, unproductive loop.so they need to give the space and level playing field to their employees to help them grow and become a self-starter and self-sufficient.

“At higher levels managers usually need to dial down their operational focus and learn how to be more strategic,” (Source: Harvard Business Review)
Managers hover. Employees get nervous and perform poorly. So managers continue to hover.

It’s true in romance, and it’s true in business
“Communication is the key to success”

One thing that needs to be ensured and remembered is that without effective, two-way communication, affiliations end and businesses fail. Bosses who efficiently communicate clear expectations and duties to their employees will be satisfied with an engaged, dynamic workforce.

Create a culture of positive communication, at your workplace and reap the benefits of effective communication. A CRM Learning article posits that 80% of a work-related conversation is spent on the problems of the past. That includes assigning blame, which is counter-productive in an organization and yields no results.
15% of the time is spent on what’s happening now and what should be done presently. And the amount of time spent discussing solutions and future possibilities? A tiny 5% of the time is spent on discussing the future and strategizing it as the importance of team communication is supreme. Focusing on the future instead of rehashing past issues demonstrates your commitment to moving forward. And that helps you find positive solutions. (Source: CRM Learning)

This is no way a novel idea to ignore past experiences and not learn from experiences, but you should have a positive approach to any situation in a productive way.

“For example, if a meeting is held to address something like decreased productivity, the meeting itself will be more productive if it begins by pointing out positives that have also occurred recently,” according to CRM. (Source: CRM Learning)

Increase employee satisfaction with great perks

One of the great perks that can be offered to the employees is health insurance, with increasing health and medical expenses, it has been a big burden on an employee salary to manage the expenses in the salary earned. So, one of the benefit to retain employees is to provide them health insurance benefits, that covers hospitalization, pre-and-post medical expenses and add-on covers can also be bought depending on the employee’s needs and organizational structure.

Smart and customized plans as per your organization’s requirements can be availed through Smartchoice.pk, by just logging on the website and providing few details, that would enable the smartchoice team to contact you and to take the process further to facilitate to your chosen plan…
So just get insured right away!

Khurram Zahid

The post How to increase employee productivity? Guidelines based on Pakistan workforce scenario appeared first on Smartchoice.pk.

When it comes to make several transactions, it is not possible with your saving account as it has limit for the amount to be transacted and the number of transactions. So who will rescue your day at work? In such cases, it is better to have a current account as it is more convenient than the savings account.

Also check out complete guide on banking here to have more detailed knowledge.

Most of the time, a current account serves to be the primary decision of business elements needing to complete their exchanges in consistent, fast, and straightforward ways. While an interest free current account keeps on remaining associations with organizations making numerous money related exchanges over the day, it is likewise useful for different elements, for example, freelancers, sole owners, and clients utilizing their own bank accounts for helping business exchanges.

1.Countless Transactions

A business current account enables you to perform countless transactions tuned in to the idea of your business. You don’t need to restrain your exchanges similarly as you would do on your saving account. Look at the saving account and a current account. You will discover that the current account is progressively advantageous from multiple points of view. On the off chance that you open a current account with any bank, you get numerous advantages, for example, zero-balance current record opening, boundless exchanges with no charge, versatile application office, 24*7 client backing and that’s only the tip of the iceberg.

2.Perks of Over-drafting

You can encounter some postponements in your receipts or installments as a result of the impulses of the business you are in. Here and there, these can cause you money related trouble as far as not having enough assets in your current account to pay for crude materials. You can generally fall back upon an overdraft facility that banks can offer you on your business current account.

3.Regulates Business Practices

You will feel the advantage of a current account in the event that you are a sole owner maintaining a business. As a sole owner, there is no refinement among individual and business with regards to conforming to certain laws.This obstructs the owner from checking the business part of the account as funds can get stirred up with personal finances. The current account takes care of this matter and you can concentrate just on the business through the current account.

4.Online Banking

Among the most important points, This type of account benefits you with online banking service. There are numerous benefits of online banking which help in operating the account effortlessly. You can use the various features of online banking to organize your banking transactions and ensure efficiency in your business. For instance, you don’t need to go to a bank branch to deposit a cheque because you can receive funds through direct transfer from the other party or IBFT easily and quickly so that your funds are available for use almost instantaneously. Similarly, you can pay your suppliers online without having to issue cheques.

5.Value-added services

You can avail many value-added services at no extra cost because of competition. Banks don’t want to lose you as a customer if you are a sound one. They tend to offer many services such as interest on the balances in your business current account, withdrawal and deposit at multiple locations, 24/7 phone banking, mobile alert services, Internet banking and doorstep banking. You can also avail many other services such as free issue of pay orders, demand drafts, instantaneous transfer of funds and zero balance. If you have a sufficiently large business you can have access to a relationship manager who is the point person for your

6.Issue of bank ensure

You can avail bank guarantee services when you maintain a current account with a good track record. This helps you in your business because many customers and vendors demand bank guarantees. This facility is more useful if you undertake exports and if you import raw materials. From the foregoing it is clear that there are many current account benefits you can enjoy by opening a business current account . You can check bank’s the website to learn about the documents required for current account opening.

6.Tracking

You can recall all your transactions whenever you want as the bank which holds your business current account can store your transactions as and when they occur.These store transactions can help you in several ways for later on.The track records can also build up your statement that can help you in traveling visas too in some cases.

Current Account is certainly suitable for customers who conduct frequent transactions and they need unlimited access to their account in order to be able to meet their personal or business expenses. The customers even have access to entire online network of both instant and secure intercity transactions.

Khurram Zahid

The post Top 7 Benefits of Having Current Accounts appeared first on Smartchoice.pk.

Banking foundations may offer a wide scope of financial balance types. By learning different types of bank accounts and their features, you can work out the decisions that suit your own needs.

Basic Banking Account (BBA)

So as to expand the entrance of financial services to under privileged and to encourage and give essential financial facilities to the low salary individuals in Pakistan, every single commercial bank offer Basic Banking Accounts (BBA) facility. The primary features of this record are:

1. The minimum initial deposit is Rs 1000 and there is no charge for looking after BBA.
2. It is a non‐remunerative record with no restriction on least equalization.
3. In cases, where balance in BBA remains ‘nil’ for a persistent six‐month period, such account is at risk to be shut.
4. Maximum two store exchanges and two cheques withdrawals are permitted, free of charge, through money/clearing every month.
5. Unlimited, for nothing out of pocket, ATM withdrawals from the banks’ own ATM. In the event of withdrawal from BBA through the ATM machines of different banks, the separate/other bank may recuperate charges for such exchanges.
6. Existing financial balance holder can change over to BBA from customary full administration banking account.
7. The banks can include more administrations, in the event that they wish and furthermore charge, according to their current approach, for any administration/transaction well beyond the initial services of a BBA, in the event that they wish.

Current Account

Current financial account is generally opened by specialists who have various standard transactions with the bank, both deposits and withdrawals. Current account can be opened with any business bank in Pakistan. In current account, sum can be stored and pulled back anytime without giving any notice.

It is likewise reasonable for making installments to loan bosses by utilizing cheques. Cheques received from clients can be kept in this record for gathering.

Highlights of Current Account

• It’s a non-interest bearing financial records.
• It has least record opening prerequisite (fluctuates from bank to bank).
• Some banks offer debit card which can be utilized to pull back money and make buys crosswise over Pakistan.
• It has no confinement on number of withdrawals
• Few banks offer versatile and web banking offices.
• Let’s you set up direct charges and standing requests to pay your bills or advance portions.
• It might offer you different administrations like an overdraft and assets exchange office.

Features of Current Account

• Current record empowers specialist to lead his business transactions easily.
• The specialists can pull back any sum whenever from their present records. There are likewise no confinements on withdrawals.
• The businessperson can make direct installment to their leasers with the assistance of cheques.
• The bank gathers cash for its clients and credits the equivalent to their accounts.
• Current record empowers the record holder to get overdraft office.

Saving Account

A saving account is a budgetary record at a safe foundation, for example, a bank that pays interest on cash that is spared. Bank accounts normally have unobtrusive loan costs that are lower than rates offered by fixed/term stores. Sparing record is an essential monetary instrument that is considered as a piece of any speculation and reserve funds technique.

Highlights of Saving Account

• It has least record opening prerequisite (changes from bank to bank).
• No confinement on number of withdrawals and number of stores.
• Profit on sparing records is credited to the client account on intermittent premise.
• Debit card can be utilized to pull back money and make buys crosswise over Pakistan
• Most of the banks give Free Online Banking administrations at branch organize across the nation

Features of Saving Account

•  Saving account encourages savings habit among salary earners and others who have fixed income.
• Saving account enables the depositor to earn income by way of interest.
•  Saving account helps the depositor to make payment by way of cheques / checks.
• The bank offers number of services to the saving account holders.

Term/Fixed Deposit Account

The record which is opened for a specific fixed period (time) by keeping specific sum (cash) is known as Fixed (Term) Deposit Account. The term ‘fixed deposit’ signifies that the store is fixed and is repayable simply after a particular period is finished.

Under fixed deposit account, cash is saved for a fixed period state a half year, one year, five years or even ten years. The cash kept in this record can’t be pulled back previously the expiry of period. The rate of intrigue paid for fixed store fluctuate (changes) as indicated by sum, period and from bank to bank.

Highlights of Fixed Deposit Account

• The principle reason for fixed store account is to empower the people to gain a higher interest rate on their surplus assets (additional cash).
• The sum can be kept just once. For further such deposit, separate accounts should be opened
• The time of fixed deposit account extend between 15 days to 10 years.

• A high loan cost is paid on fixed deposit accounts. The rate of intrigue may differ according to sum, period and from bank to bank.
• Withdrawals are not permitted. In any case, if there should arise an occurrence of crisis, banks permit to close the fixed record before development date. In such cases, the bank deducts 1% (derivation rate may fluctuate) from the intrigue payable as on that date.
• The contributor is given a fixed store receipt, which investor needs to create at the time of development. The store can be recharged for a further period.

Features of Fixed Deposit Account

• Fixed deposit supports investment funds propensity for a more drawn out time-frame.
• Fixed deposit account empowers the investor to procure a high financing cost.
• The investor can get advance office from the bank.
• On development the sum can be utilized to make buys of benefits.
• The bank can get the assets for a more extended time frame.
• The bank can loan such assets for momentary credits to businessperson.
• Fixed stores in a roundabout way support financial advancement of the nation.
• The bank can likewise put such assets in beneficial zones.

Foreign Currency Accounts

As an exceptional office, you can open records in remote money notwithstanding PKR stores. Records designated in four outside monetary forms for example US Dollar, British Pound, Japanese Yen what’s more, Euro; are permitted to be opened by budgetary organizations working in Pakistan.

You can pull back the sum either in PKR at current swapping scale or in the named cash.

Under the current guidelines, the Authorized Dealers (Banks approved to bargain in outside trade) without the earlier endorsement of the State Bank, can open outside money records of the accompanying:

• All Pakistan nationals inhabitant in or outside Pakistan, including those having a double nationality.
• All remote nationals, in the case of living abroad or in Pakistan.
• Joint Account in the names of inhabitants and non‐
• All discretionary missions licensed to Pakistan, and their Diplomatic Officers.
• All International Organizations in Pakistan.
• Firms and organizations built up/joined and working in Pakistan, including those having remote share‐holdings aside from those unapproved under arrangement of State Bank’s Foreign Exchange Manual.
• Charitable Trusts, Foundations and so on which are exempted from pay charge.
• Branches of remote firms and organizations in Pakistan.
• Non‐resident Exchange Companies regardless of whether possessed by a bank or money related establishment.
• All remote firms/partnerships, other than banks and money related foundations possessed by banks, fused and working abroad gave these are claimed by people who are generally qualified to open remote cash accounts.

Highlights of Foreign Currency Account

• Deposits just in remote cash.
• No limitation on exchange of assets to any nation abroad.
• Profit is paid to the remote money contributors.
• Traveler cheques and different settlements can be obtained by debit to the record at current conversion rate.
• Credit card office can be gotten by the record holders to the degree of the parities held in their individual records, for use in and outside Pakistan.
• Holders of outside cash accounts are allowed to exchange their records from one approved dealer to another.
• Banks may recuperate sensible charges on dealing with money exchanges in remote monetary forms got into or paid out of such records.
• The non‐residents are exempted from installment of retention charge and mandatory conclusion of Zakat.This is the brief guideline towards the types of bank accounts and their features operating in Pakistan that will not just help you to understand the investing options but will also give you insights of how to compare the best options for your money.

Khurram Zahid

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