BBA aims to reduce costs for consumers by removing more expensive facilities and requires no minimum balance, and neither does it have complex terms and conditions thereby reducing administrative and management costs. SBP introduced Microfinance Banking Regulations in 2001 to specifically meet the demands of low income consumers.
These regulations have been improved to a world class microfinance regulatory framework, ranked number one for the last two years in a row by “the Economic Intelligence Unit” of UK’s “The Economist” magazine. SBP has adopted innovative solutions to overcome geographical barriers, including branchless banking through retail agents and harnessing technology via mobile-phone banking.