How we grouped the cards
We counted a card as Islamic if it comes from a fully Islamic bank (Meezan, BankIslami, Al Baraka), from an Islamic bank arm (HBL Islamic, MCB Islamic), or from an Islamic product line that carries the name, such as Bank Alfalah Islamic, Faysal Islami Noor, Amal and Priority, BOP Taqwa and UBL Ameen. Everything else is conventional. That gives 80 Islamic and 168 conventional cards with modelled savings. Savings use a Rs 108,000 monthly spend mix, as set out on the methodology page.
The grouping goes by card and bank name, so a few Islamic windows at conventional banks may sit in the conventional group.
Fees: parent bank against Islamic arm
Where an Islamic arm sells the same product as its parent, the fee is usually the same. Of 13 matched debit cards in our data, 10 carry an identical annual fee. All the differences are at MCB, where the Islamic card is a different product on a different network, so the comparison is looser.
| Conventional card | Annual fee | Islamic card | Annual fee |
|---|
| HBL Gold debit | Rs 3,800 | HBL Islamic Mastercard Gold debit | Rs 3,800 |
| HBL World debit | Rs 20,000 | HBL Islamic World debit | Rs 20,000 |
| HBL UnionPay Classic debit | Rs 2,700 | HBL Islamic UnionPay Classic debit | Rs 2,700 |
| HBL PayPak debit | Rs 2,000 | HBL Islamic PayPak debit | Rs 2,000 |
| Bank Alfalah Visa Classic debit | Rs 3,800 | Bank Alfalah Visa Islamic Classic debit | Rs 3,800 |
| Bank Alfalah Visa Gold debit | Rs 5,500 | Bank Alfalah Visa Islamic Gold debit | Rs 5,500 |
| Bank Alfalah Visa Signature debit | Rs 23,000 | Bank Alfalah Visa Islamic Signature debit | Rs 23,000 |
| BOP Mastercard Platinum debit | Rs 6,000 | BOP Taqwa Platinum Islamic debit | Rs 6,000 |
| BOP World debit | Rs 20,000 | BOP Taqwa World Islamic debit | Rs 20,000 |
| UBL Visa Premium debit | Rs 2,900 | UBL Ameen Premium debit Mastercard | Rs 2,900 |
| MCB Visa Platinum debit | Rs 14,000 | MCB Islamic Platinum debit (UnionPay) | Rs 12,000 |
| MCB Mastercard Classic debit | Rs 3,000 | MCB Islamic Visa Classic debit | Rs 3,500 |
| MCB Visa Gold debit | Rs 4,500 | MCB Islamic Qadar Gold debit (UnionPay) | Rs 4,300 |
Across tiers, the medians are close. These counts include only debit cards that charge a fee.
| Debit tier | Cards that charge a fee (Islamic / conventional) | Median annual fee (Islamic / conventional) |
|---|
| Classic | 12 / 18 | Rs 3,000 / Rs 2,950 |
| Gold | 10 / 13 | Rs 4,150 / Rs 3,800 |
| Platinum | 5 / 7 | Rs 10,000 / Rs 7,500 |
| World, Signature, Infinite | 7 / 9 | Rs 23,000 / Rs 23,000 |
The Platinum median is higher for Islamic cards (five cards against seven), and the others are within Rs 400 of each other. Islamic credit cards are too few for a fair comparison. We hold six with savings data, all of them Faysal Noor cards.
Discount coverage and savings
| Group | Cards with modelled savings | Median yearly saving | Mean yearly saving |
|---|
| Islamic | 80 | Rs 15,403 | Rs 17,518 |
| Conventional | 168 | Rs 14,039 | Rs 16,775 |
The medians are close and the Islamic group is a little ahead. Meezan's own median is Rs 16,102. By tier the picture is mixed.
| Debit tier | Cards (Islamic / conventional) | Median yearly saving (Islamic / conventional) |
|---|
| Classic | 12 / 18 | Rs 10,998 / Rs 14,516 |
| Gold | 11 / 20 | Rs 14,658 / Rs 8,023 |
| Platinum | 10 / 12 | Rs 20,156 / Rs 11,931 |
| World, Signature, Infinite | 11 / 16 | Rs 38,872 / Rs 34,651 |
Conventional Classic debit cards lead by about Rs 3,500. Islamic cards lead by about Rs 6,600 at Gold, Rs 8,200 at Platinum and Rs 4,200 in the top tier. With 10 to 20 cards in each cell, we would not read much into any one gap.
| Category | Median saving rate (Islamic / conventional) | Median coverage (Islamic / conventional) |
|---|
| Food | 17.3% / 17.9% | 6.6% / 6.1% |
| Health | 22.9% / 23.4% | 13.4% / 8.3% |
| Grocery | 11.7% / 10.0% | 6.7% / 6.7% |
The saving rate at a covered merchant is within about two points in all three categories. In health, Islamic cards cover more providers at the median (13.4% against 8.3%). The Islamic cards at the top of the list are Bank Alfalah's Islamic Premier Visa Infinite debit (Rs 54,424), Meezan's Visa Infinite debit (Rs 52,513) and Faysal Islami Priority World debit (Rs 46,912).
Eligibility
Islamic banks publish fewer salary thresholds than conventional ones. None of the five fully Islamic banks and arms in our data (Meezan, BankIslami, Al Baraka, HBL Islamic, MCB Islamic) lists a salary above zero on any card, while 9 of the other 16 banks do. The Islamic cards that do list one come from the Islamic lines of conventional banks: Faysal's Noor cards at Rs 40,000, Standard Chartered's Saadiq Platinum at Rs 100,000 and BOP's Taqwa KHAAS Platinum at Rs 500,000.
That Saadiq card is a clean pair. Standard Chartered's conventional Mastercard Platinum lists Rs 300,000 a month, and the Saadiq Platinum lists Rs 100,000, at the same Rs 20,000 annual fee. HBL's conventional Classic, Gold and Titanium debit cards each list a Rs 40,000 linked-account average balance. HBL Islamic's matching cards list none.
The Islamic arms do publish balances for their premium cards. Meezan waives card fees on its Classic, Silver, Gold and PayPak debit cards at a Rs 200,000 monthly average on a Plus account, and on World at Rs 5,000,000 in checking. HBL Islamic Premium customers keep Rs 2,000,000 to Rs 4,999,999 quarterly, and Prestige customers Rs 5,000,000. MCB Islamic's Platinum card asks for a Rs 3,000,000 monthly average deposit in 6 of the previous 12 months. BankIslami's Priority banking asks for Rs 3,000,000 combined quarterly. The eligibility guide compares these with conventional thresholds.
Where Islamic cards can cost more
The Islamic arm often has its own schedule, so check it separately. Askari's Ikhlas Islamic schedule, effective July 1, 2026, lists Visa Classic debit at Rs 3,500 and PayPak Gold at Rs 2,750. Askari's conventional record in our data shows Rs 3,000 and Rs 2,400 from the January 2026 SOC, and we found no July edition for conventional debit cards, so that comparison mixes two editions. Allied publishes its Islamic Banking schedule as a separate PDF for Jul to Dec 2026, and Bank Alfalah, HBL and MCB do the same.
If you bank Islamic, read the Islamic schedule for your card instead of assuming the parent bank's fee applies. For most pairs we checked it does, and for MCB it does not.
To compare Islamic and conventional cards for your own spend, open the tool, filter by bank, and compare yearly saving minus annual fee.
Frequently asked questions
Are Islamic debit cards more expensive than conventional ones?
Mostly the same. Of 13 matched pairs in our data, 10 have identical annual fees. Across tiers the median Classic fee is Rs 3,000 for Islamic debit cards and Rs 2,950 for conventional ones. Platinum is higher for Islamic cards (Rs 10,000 against Rs 7,500), based on five and seven cards.
Do Islamic cards get fewer discounts?
No fewer in our data. The median modelled yearly saving is Rs 15,403 for Islamic cards and Rs 14,039 for conventional ones, at the same Rs 108,000 monthly spend mix.
Which Islamic card has the highest modelled saving?
Bank Alfalah's Islamic Premier Visa Infinite debit card models at Rs 54,424 a year, ahead of Meezan's Visa Infinite debit at Rs 52,513. Both are premium cards that are free only with a large relationship balance, so check the condition before counting the saving.
Do Islamic banks publish salary requirements?
Rarely. Meezan, BankIslami, Al Baraka, HBL Islamic and MCB Islamic list no salary above zero on any card in our data. Their requirements are mostly account balances.