Bank Asia has adopted a massive action plan to achieve its target of raising the number of agent banking outlets to 12,000 by 2025 from the existing level of around 4,000 using union and city digital centres, post offices and individual agents, the bank's top executive said.
Under the plan, the third generation private commercial bank (PCB) has expedited the adoption of post office banking facility as it will establish booths at 8,500 Digital Post e-Centres across the country.
The leading PCB has also intensified its efforts to bring more micro and small traders as well as service providers into the banking network through opening personal retail accounts to provide digital payment facility against their sales of goods and services.
"We've taken a series of measures to bring more unbanked people into the banking network to help achieve sustainable economic development through boosting financial inclusion activities across the country," Md. Arfan Ali, president and managing director of the Bank Asia Limited, said while sharing his future plans on financial inclusion programmes in an exclusive interview with The Financial Express on Tuesday ahead of the bank's 21st anniversary.
Bank Asia has also planned to enhance its financing in retail and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) significantly to minimise risk with diversifying portfolios by 2025.
As part of the plan, the investment in retail and SMEs will reach 50 per cent of its total loans and advances during the period under review from the existing level of 30 per cent while the investment in corporate entities will come down to 50 per cent from the existing level of 70 per cent.
"We'll re-fix our investment portfolio ratio in retail and SME sectors and corporate entities at 50:50 within 2025," Mr. Ali said while replying to a query.
Bank Asia is committed to providing services to all segments of society, including the masses and marginalised people in rural and remotest parts of the country, he added.
The bank started its journey on November 27 in 1999 to materialise the dream of a group of successful and renowned entrepreneurs of the country with a mission to assist in bringing high quality service to the customers and to participate in the growth and expansion of the national economy, according to the MD.
"We've introduced different innovative products and services for both conventional and Shariah-based Islamic banking since its inception to help achieve sustainable economic growth through boosting financial inclusion activities," Mr. Ali noted.
Bank Asia also introduced agent banking services for the first time in Bangladesh in 2014, aiming to help minimise social inequality through empowering particularly the small and vulnerable income groups across the country.
Mr. Ali pioneered and championed the agent banking operation in Bangladesh with a view to serving unbanked and underserved population by offering banking and financial services.
With a vision to expand network to provide services at the grassroots level, Bank Asia has already developed a strategic relationship with the Posts and Telecommunications Division of Bangladesh government.
Under the arrangement, people are getting the bank's services from Digital Post e-Centres across the country, according to the MD.
"We've already set up nearly 500 agent banking outlets at the Digital Post e-Centres, aiming to bring more unbanked people into the banking system to facilitate the ongoing financial inclusion programmes across the country," Mr. Ali noted.
"Financial inclusion is our big agenda along with my personal wish to bring more people into the banking network for minimising risk," he added.
Bank Asia has also worked to open personal retail accounts of micro merchants and service providers to provide digital payment facility in line with the Bangladesh Bank (BB)'s latest policy, according to the MD.
On November 16, the central bank allowed banks, mobile financial services (MFS) and payment service providers (PSP) to open personal retail accounts of micro merchants to enable them to use digital payment facility against their sales of goods and services.
Under the new policy, such accounts will be opened under direct supervision of officials or appointed agents of the banks as well as agent banking, MFS and PSP to help expedite the financial inclusion initiatives through bringing more people into the formal digital payment ecosystem.
"We're now working with the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) along with other partners to implement a pilot project in this connection," the MD explained.
In the new policy, there would be no requirement of providing tax identification number (TIN), value added tax (VAT) registration or any other documents except attestation from local public representative or certification of local professional body and the national identification (NID) number for opening such account.
Actually, Bank Asia wants to fill up the gap between retail and corporate lending through boosting agent banking operations across the country, said Mr Ali.
"We're working to create employment opportunities, ensure economic and financial stability through reducing vulnerability, and contribute to poverty reduction in line with the government's National Financial Inclusion Strategy-Bangladesh (NFIS-B) for 2020-24," he added.
Digitisation and innovation have been identified as two key base approaches of NFIS-B following the vision of 'Digital Bangladesh' and 'Innovative Bangladesh'.
"We're now working relentlessly with the vision that every adult in our country will have a bank account; every village in our country will have a financial kiosk," Mr. Ali explained.
He also said Bank Asia has also helped develop financial entrepreneurship through boosting agent banking across the country.
"We're also working to establish a digital platform to introduce real time online banking using the latest financial technology (FinTech) in the near future," the MD said.
FinTech is the new technology and innovation that aims to compete with traditional financial methods in the delivery of financial services using smartphones or the internet.
"Our retail clients will be able to use banking facilities from their respective homes and offices through apps by the end of 2021," the senior banker noted.
He also said the corporate clients will also enjoy such digital banking services after developing the digital platform.
The senior banker strongly believe that their dedicated services and innovative products as well as the enthusiastic team of professionals will be able to protect the interest of the stakeholders, ensure total satisfaction of the clients, and contribute significantly towards reducing poverty, thereby making a better tomorrow for all.
He also spoke on different issues, including implementation of the government's announced stimulus packages, particularly the cottage, micro, small and medium enterprises (CMSMEs), which will help speed up quick recovery of the pandemic-hit economy.
"Such financial packages have helped the country's business community to offset the adverse impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on their businesses," Mr. Ali said.
He also said that the risk of non-performing loans (NPL) would increase if the stimulus packages are not implemented properly.
In that case, bankers will have to play a vital role to avert possible unwanted situation in the banking sector, according to the senior banker.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has, so far, announced 19 stimulus packages worth Tk 1.03 trillion to offset the impacts of the pandemic on various sectors.
The packages, which are 3.7 per cent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP), are now being executed under the supervision of the central bank and the finance ministry.
Mr. Ali started off his career with Arab Bangladesh Bank as a probationary officer in 1991.
He joined Bank Asia in 1999 and acted as a key team player in the acquisition of the operations of two foreign banks in Bangladesh -- the Bank of Nova Scotia and Muslim Commercial Bank of Pakistan.
He is the chairperson of the SWIFT Members and Users Group of Bangladesh and a former secretary general of the Association of Bankers, Bangladesh.
He obtained an MBA from the IBA, University of Dhaka.
Bank Asia provides all types of banking services through 129 branches, five Islamic banking windows, and more than 4,000 agent banking outlets.
Besides, it has eight brokerage house branches and two exchange houses in the United Kingdom and the United States.
siddique.islam@gmail.com