The amount of inward remittances collected and disbursed through the country's agent banking increased by 4.75 per cent in the January-March quarter this year over the previous quarter.
At the end of March 2024, the amount of inward remittances through agent banking rose to Tk 1.49 trillion, according to the Bangladesh Bank (BB) data.
In the current quarter, more than Tk 68.03 billion remittance has been disbursed through agent banking.
This increase in inward remittances through agent banking is supposed to be a positive outcome of the government's initiative of providing 2.5 per cent cash incentive on inward remittances.
Moreover, banks' financial literacy campaigns focusing on the theme 'Enhance Social Awareness to send Remittance through Legal Channel', announced by the BB since January 2023 is expected to have a positive impact on remittance inflow.
Agent banking in the country has continued to grow in all dimensions this quarter.
Up to March 2022, the number of agent banking accounts was 15.193 million and the total amount of deposit was Tk 251.64 billion, the BB data revealed.
In March 2023, the number of accounts increased by 24.62 per cent to 18.93 million and the amount of deposit rose by 25.74 per cent to Tk 316.41 billion, the BB data show.
In March 2024, the number of accounts soared by 17.51 per cent to 22.25 million and the amount of deposit grew by 16.52 per cent to Tk 368.70 billion.
Over the past two years, the number of accounts has surged by 46.45 per cent whereas the amount of deposit has scaled up by 46.51 per cent.
As of 31 March 2024, 31 banks offered agent banking services through 21,613 outlets operated by 15,835 agents, the BB data said.
The number of agents has risen by 0.50 per cent while the number of outlets has gone up by 0.06 per cent from the previous quarter.
At the end of March 2024, the amount of deposit accumulated in the agent banking accounts was Tk 368.700 billion, the amount of loan disbursement through agent banking account of 22 banks was Tk 164.82 billion, the BB data said.
As of March 2024, the volume of the total loan has been augmented by 6.98 per cent over the previous quarter, indicating that the lending through agent banking was gaining momentum, the BB data said.
The number of accounts opened through agent banking has grown by 3.88 per cent over the last quarter.
The share of female-owned accounts opened through agent banking has been raised by 3.59 per cent during this quarter, and their share surpassed male-owned accounts.
The volume of deposit in the agent banking accounts and the volume of lending through these accounts have shot up by 1.41 per cent and 6.98 per cent respectively from the previous quarter.
The volume of lending through agent banking is relatively low compared to the volume of deposit as the loan to deposit ratio stands at 44.70 per cent by the end of the reporting quarter, the BB data added.
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