A social media thread describing the difficulties an overseas Pakistani faced when attempting to deposit US dollar earnings into a Pakistani bank account has gone viral, drawing nearly 200,000 views within hours of being posted on April 14.
The thread, directed at Bank Alfalah and the State Bank of Pakistan, opens with a straightforward premise. The author, Furqan Shayk, described wanting to bring USD earnings back to Pakistan, keep the money in the country, and support the economy.
“Patriotic intent. Honest money. Simple process… or so I thought,” the thread begins, before detailing a series of frustrations with the banking system that turned the experience into a regret.
Here’s the whole tweet:
I Tried Bringing Dollars to Pakistan, The Banking System Made Me Regret.
(@BankAlfalahPAK @StateBank_Pak)
1/ As an overseas Pakistani, I decided to bring some of my USD earnings back to Pakistan. I wanted my money to sit in the country, support the economy, and do my small…
— Furqan Shayk (@FurqanShayk) April 14, 2026
According to the thread that goes on to weave 4-5 more tweets, the payment was never credited and could not be traced by the bank. Shayk’s team then obtained official payment tracking documentation from META, complete with a payment reference number and a full payment trail, constituting clear evidence that the funds were sent. However, even with this documentation in hand, the branch manager at Bank Alfalah allegedly could not locate the payment and failed to properly lodge a formal complaint.
“No ownership. No urgency,” he wrote.
The situation then escalated further. According to the author, the branch manager’s response to his team was: “Apne jo karna hai karlo,” a dismissive Urdu phrase roughly meaning “do whatever you want.” The author shared the quote publicly, addressing it directly at Bank Alfalah and the State Bank of Pakistan.
“Imagine saying that to a customer sending foreign currency back home. Is this the SOP? Is this the KPI culture? Is this customer service?” he wrote.
The consequences went beyond the unresolved payment. After four months of frustration, the author says he stopped sending payments to Pakistan entirely. He added that he no longer plans to invest in the country.
“Not because I didn’t want to,” he wrote. “Because the system pushed me away. Pakistan doesn’t just lose money when this happens. My trust is gone.”
The thread struck a nerve because it sits at the intersection of two competing realities. Pakistan received approximately $35 billion in remittances in fiscal year 2025, making it one of the country’s most critical sources of foreign exchange.
The government and SBP have repeatedly urged overseas Pakistanis to channel more earnings through formal banking. Products like Bank Alfalah’s Roshan Digital Account were launched specifically to make foreign currency banking easier for the diaspora.
Ironically, just days before the thread was posted, the SBP introduced a revised framework allowing exchange companies to lock PKR/USD rates for up to five working days to encourage formal remittance inflows.
At the same time, Pakistan faces growing pressure on its remittance volumes due to the ongoing Gulf crisis, with the Pakistan Institute of Development Economics estimating a potential $3 to $4 billion annual decline in annual inflows as Gulf migration slows.
Shayk’s final question to the SBP captures the stakes plainly.
“You want overseas Pakistanis to trust the banking system, remit dollars, and invest back home… while treating them like this?”
Neither Bank Alfalah nor the State Bank of Pakistan had publicly responded to the thread at the time of writing.
