ATMs in the Northern Areas work reliably in the main towns, Gilgit, Skardu, Chitral, Muzaffarabad and Mingora among them, but thin out fast once you leave them. Karimabad and the rest of central Hunza have only a handful of machines that can run dry in peak season, and once you're in a side valley, at a high-altitude camp, or in a national park, cash is the only thing that works. Plan to draw most of what you need before you leave the last big town on your route.
This guide covers where ATMs are dependable, how much cash to carry, and what cards and mobile wallets actually do for you once you're off the main road.
| At a glance | |
|---|---|
| Reliable ATMs | Gilgit, Skardu, Chitral, Muzaffarabad, Mingora |
| Limited, can run dry | Karimabad and central Hunza |
| Little or none | Fairy Meadows, Deosai, upper Neelum, Kumrat, high side valleys |
| Best backup | Cash drawn in Islamabad or Rawalpindi before you leave |
| Cards | Accepted at some larger hotels; don't rely on them elsewhere |
| Mobile wallets (Easypaisa, JazzCash) | Useful for peer-to-peer transfers where there is signal, not a substitute for cash |
Where ATMs are dependable
Gilgit and Skardu, as the two largest towns in Gilgit-Baltistan, have branches and ATMs from several major banks, including HBL, UBL, Bank Alfalah and the Karakoram Cooperative Bank, a locally headquartered bank with a large branch network across the region. Chitral, Muzaffarabad and Mingora, as district headquarters, are similarly well served. In all of these towns, drawing cash on a normal debit card is straightforward on a working day.
Karimabad, the usual base for exploring Hunza, has ATMs, but there are fewer of them relative to the number of visitors, and machines have been known to run out of cash during Eid and the summer peak. Treat any ATM here as a top-up, not your main source of cash.
Where you should not count on one
Cash machines effectively disappear once you're away from the district towns:
- Fairy Meadows and Beyal, reached on foot or by jeep from Raikot Bridge, have none.
- Deosai National Park has none inside it; draw cash in Skardu or Astore first.
- The upper Neelum Valley (Kel, Sharda, Taobat) and Leepa Valley have no reliable ATMs beyond Muzaffarabad.
- Kumrat, Kalam's side valleys, and Naltar are the same: cash from the nearest town before you head up.
- Small towns along the Karakoram Highway, such as Gulmit, Passu and Sost, have limited or no ATM access; carry what you need for fuel and food there in advance.
How much cash to carry
There's no fixed number that fits every trip, since it depends on how many days you'll spend away from a bank town and how you're travelling. As a working approach: draw enough in Islamabad, Rawalpindi or the last major town on your route to cover several days of fuel, food, park fees and tips, then top up wherever you find a working ATM. Keep some of it as smaller notes; a shopkeeper or jeep driver in a small town often can't break a large one.
Carry cash in more than one place, some on each adult in the group rather than all in one bag, and keep a card as backup even where you don't expect to use it.
Cards and mobile wallets
Larger hotels and some resorts in Gilgit, Skardu, Hunza and Muzaffarabad take debit or credit cards, but plenty of guesthouses, fuel stations and roadside restaurants do not, and a card is no use at all where there's no signal to process it. Treat a card as something that might work at your hotel, not as your travel money.
Mobile wallets such as Easypaisa and JazzCash are useful for sending money to a driver or guide, or for splitting costs within a group, wherever there is mobile signal. They depend on that signal, so they fail in exactly the places cash-free plans fail: high passes, national parks and the deeper side valleys. Our guide to which SIM works in the Northern Areas covers where coverage holds and where it doesn't.
International cards and foreign visitors
Cards issued outside Pakistan work at some ATMs in Islamabad and other big cities, but foreign nationals should not count on them once they're north of Gilgit or Skardu. Foreign-issued cards are widely reported as unreliable even at some machines in Gilgit-Baltistan's main towns, let alone beyond them, so overseas visitors should change or draw cash before heading north and carry more of it than they would at home. A Pakistani SIM with mobile banking is of little help either, since it depends on the same signal that ATMs and cards need to work.
Bank hours and when machines run low
Bank branches generally keep standard weekday hours and are closed on Sundays and public holidays, so a branch counter is not a fallback outside those hours; an ATM is. Machines in smaller towns are refilled less often than in a big city, and a single popular ATM in a place like Karimabad can run out of notes during a holiday weekend before it's restocked. If you're travelling around Eid or a long weekend, draw cash a day or two earlier than you think you need to, rather than relying on finding a working machine at the last minute.
A simple plan for a family trip
- Draw most of your cash before you head north, in Islamabad, Rawalpindi or another city with plenty of ATMs.
- Top up in Gilgit or Skardu if your route passes through, rather than waiting until you're low.
- Carry a mix of denominations, so you're not stuck with only large notes in a small town.
- Split cash between bags and people, so a lost or stolen bag doesn't end the trip's budget.
- Keep a card for hotels, but don't build your plan around needing it to work.
For the rest of what to organise before a northern trip, see our travel guide, and for the paperwork side of the journey, our guide to CNIC and checkpoints.
Frequently asked questions
Is there an ATM in Hunza?
Yes, in Karimabad, but the number of machines is small relative to visitor numbers and they can run dry during Eid and peak summer. Draw most of your cash in Gilgit before you arrive.
Are there ATMs in Skardu?
Yes, several, from the main national banks and the locally based Karakoram Cooperative Bank. Skardu is one of the more reliable places in Gilgit-Baltistan to draw cash.
Can I pay by card in the Northern Areas?
At some larger hotels, yes. Most guesthouses, fuel stations and small restaurants are cash only, and cards are no use anywhere without mobile signal.
How much cash should I carry for a northern trip?
Enough to cover several days away from a bank town, drawn before you leave the last major town on your route, then topped up where you find a working ATM. Carry a mix of note sizes and split it across bags and people.
Do Easypaisa and JazzCash work in the Northern Areas?
Where there's mobile signal, yes, for transfers between people. They're not a substitute for cash in places with no signal, which includes most high passes and national parks.
