Bank Alfalah Credit Card Says "No Advance Payments Please"

I've been using Bank Alfalah credit card for over 2 years now and for me the service has almost never created any problems. Contrary to what a general opinion is about credit cards, I have (Alhamdullilah) never been a victim of pretend-mishaps like cheque misplacement, surprise charging etc. To avoid such over-charging or paying what you didn't spent, there is just two things one can do. 1. Pay before the due date. 2. Pay in hard cash at the branch. Yes paying bill in cash does have extra charges of 110 Rupees (as of this date) but it is worth spending as you get to see them input your payment in the system, so you can be sure that you paid and they received. Instead of using a drop box or cheque, this is the most reliable way of paying.

Anyway, there is another very common opinion that there is no real reason for using or even having a credit card. But given that Pakistan does not have a PayPal service and all the wire transfers have fees that is somewhat more than the amount itself! So what's left for making payments abroad or on Internet? My main reason for having a credit card is to do online payments (being in the web business). When it comes to Internet the first thought is of Credit Card Frauds or
Internet scams etc. So what's the precaution for that? Well there is! Every card (as far as I know) in Pakistan is blocked for Internet payments, (and no, you can't use your Debit Visa on Internet), which means that if your card number and verification number is released, no one can misuse it on Internet. Which is good! My card is also inactive for Internet transactions and I ask them to activate it when I need
it, I do the payment and I have it inactivated again as soon as I am done.

But since the last few months I am being told in every call to helpline for activation, that there are 100 Rupee charges for Internet activation! That was quite a shock for me! because if you call any helpline and ask them to do something, should they charge when there is no actual resource being used!? Anyway, hundred rupee was not such a big amount and given the economical situation and the fact that the
card which is "free for life" didn't apply a yearly fee to it, it was acceptable enough.

Then guess what! last time I paid the bill, I paid around 5K above my actual bill, so I was assured that I can use my card for a while now without worrying to pay instantly. I also knew that a payment was due in a couple of days, so what's wrong in paying in advance!? So today the time came when I had to activate the card on Internet... I called up the helpline (042-111-225-786) and asked the gentleman to have the card activated. He asked some verification questions and then said "Sorry your card can't be activated on net"... I was baffled to hear
that, so I asked him why... He told me that it was because I had paid in advance. The interesting part was that he said "Why did you pay in advance, tell me the reason" (exactly these words) in a tone in which a grandpa would ask his grand son "Why did you break the toy, give me reason" I was offended by that, but I held myself and asked him that what does he propose as I have a payment on the Internet due right now! I told him that I knew this payment was due so I paid in
advance... He was disgusted for god knows what reason and said that it is the "Company Policy" that you can't activate on Internet when youhave a positive balance! That was ridicules in its complete nature, so I said to him... "Okay, so we should pay within the 15 day time and we should pay exactly the amount due, we can't pay any late because then bank will get "angry" and charge the late fee, but we also can NOT pay in advance as it is also frowned upon by the bank!? He said, Sir G
this is a policy... I cut him there and asked him to give me a solution for the payment that I have to do right now. He then did some keystroking on his keyboard and said "I'm allowing it now, but just for this time, take care next time and DO NOT pay in advance"

I usually do not make posts about bad customer experiences, but this one is something that had be thinking. I still don't get what is the reason for such a grandpa-type attitude and what could possibly be the reason for the bank to frown upon advance payments! If any of you people know, please share your thoughts! I'll be happy to know!