Rising accounts take banks closer to people

Globally, about 1.7 billion adults remain unbanked. Account ownership is almost universal in high-income economies: nearly all unbanked adults live in the developing world, according to a World Bank report released in April last year.In the developing world, about half of all adults have no more than primary school education. Among unbanked adults, the share is close to two-thirds. Although there is no clear data on the number of unbanked people in Bangladesh, different researches hint that more than 40 per cent of the population remain out of the formal financial system.The number of deposit accounts in the banking sector stood at 13.24 crore as of June this year, up 4.60 per cent from six months ago and 33.60 per cent from a year earlier, according to data from the central bank. Deposits in the banking sector rose 11.26 per cent year-on-year to Tk 12,58,529 crore in June this year.Dutch-Bangla Bank earlier took several initiatives to increase the number of accounts, said Managing Director AbulKashemMdShirin. The bank has 2.90 crore accounts, the highest in the banking sector. The lender has set up 4,834 ATMs, which is 43.13 per cent of the 11,206 installed by all the banks combined in the country.As per the central bank rules, banks are allowed to enjoy service charge ranging from Tk 100 to Tk 300 from deposit accounts. But nothing can be charged if the average annual minimum balance is below Tk 10,000.Banks should take up more initiatives to mobilise funds as this will help strengthen national savings, Mahbub said. Deposits in the bank now amount to Tk 113,000 crore riding on the accounts.

Source: https://www.thedailystar.net/business/news/rising-accounts-take-banks-closer-people-1992309

Padma Bank gets connected to bKash

From now on, customers of Padma Bank Limited can transfer fund from their internet banking platform “Padma i-Banking” to any bKash account. An agreement was signed between Padma Bank and bKash recently to this end.To transfer fund, any Padma Bank account holder needs to login to his/her account through Padma i-Banking and add beneficiary first. After adding bKash account as beneficiary by filling up necessary information, a customer can transfer money instantly. Once added, customers can make next transactions easily.For transferring fund, customer needs to click on ‘Send Money’, tap on bKash logo, select ‘Transfer to bKash’ then select bank account from which customer will send money and choose beneficiary. Then, after entering required amount and narration, customer needs to select OTP channel (SMS or Email) and click on ‘Continue’. Finally, the customer needs to input the OTP number to complete the transaction. However, customer can find the logo of Padma Bank Limited in the Add Money section of bKash app also.

Source: https://today.thefinancialexpress.com.bd/stock-corporate/padma-bank-gets-connected-to-bkash-1604945403

CFA Institute Research Challenge 2020-21 begins

CFA Institute Research Challenge 2020-21 for the business students of top universities began recently for the 5th consecutive year. CFA Society Bangladesh arranged the event. This year, BRAC Bank Limited – a leading private commercial bank is the ‘Subject Company’ for Bangladesh-based participating teams. BRAC Bank Limited is a SME focused bank started its operation in 2001 having an asset size of BDT 447,760 million as on September 30, 2020. CFA Society Bangladesh has arranged this local competition for the last four years and extensive response has been received from the university students during the earlier seasons. In the local part of the competition, CFA Society Bangladesh conducts an initial screening round where participants from different universities of Bangladesh participate and compete to become the Top 10 to 12 teams in the competition. At the local final level, 12 teams participating from the selected universities will present in depth analysis on BRAC Bank Limited – the subject company before the panel consisting of top industry practitioners.

Source: https://today.thefinancialexpress.com.bd/stock-corporate/cfa-institute-research-challenge-2020-21-begins-1604945351

IPDC wins ADFIAP Award for Supply Chain Finance

IPDC Finance Ltd, the first private-sector financial institution of Bangladesh since 1981, was awarded Outstanding Development Project Award by Philippines-based Association of Development Financing Institutions in Asia and the Pacific (ADFIAP).IPDC was adorned with the accolade by the ADFIAP Awards Board in Category 5 (Technology Development) for its Supply Chain Finance project. The awarding committee handed over the award to the winner during the 43rd ADFIAP Virtual Annual Meeting held recently.

Source: https://today.thefinancialexpress.com.bd/stock-corporate/ipdc-wins-adfiap-award-for-supply-chain-finance-1604945305

Evaly wins e-Commerce Movers Award

Evaly.com.bd won the e-Commerce Movers Award for its food delivery service ‘efood’, says a press release. A total of 100 e-commerce organisations and 12 individuals were awarded the e-Commerce Movers Award on the occasion of the sixth founding anniversary of the E-commerce Association of Bangladesh (E-Cab).In it short duration, Evaly has launched four platforms. It has 4.0 million registered customers and 25,000 sellers. The ‘e-food’ is the second largest food service provider in the country where about 1500 restaurants are registered and e-food delivers about 7,000 food services every day. Besides, customers will be able to buy and sell products on their own in e-bazer, and merchants are able to keep daily accounts in e-khata.

Source: https://today.thefinancialexpress.com.bd/trade-market/evaly-wins-e-commerce-movers-award-1604946378