Citi offers NBR internet payment gateway to expedite tax collection
Monday, 27 July 2009
Mehdi Musharraf Bhuiyan
Global financial giant Citibank, N.A. said Sunday it is ready to share its Internet-based payment gateway 'CitiConnect' with the revenue board in an effort to usher in e-governance and expedite tax collection in the country.
Parvez Murshed, the head of Citi's Global Transaction Services in Bangladesh, said the technology-based solution is already in use for tax collection in Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines.
"We are ready to introduce the system in Bangladesh as soon as we receive the green signal from the National Board of Revenue (NBR)," he said.
The bank's local officials have held series of talks with the senior NBR top brass and they have shown keen interest to use the latest technology.
"The cost of implementing the project would be around a hundred thousand US Dollar," Parvez told the FE.
"Nevertheless, we would offer the CitiConnect tax collection facility to the NBR free of cost. This will usher in e-governance and expedite tax collections process once it's launched in Bangladesh."
Citibank officials say apart from tax collection, CitiConnect solution can be used for collecting utility bills and other receivables on-line through the Internet.
"We are seeing an increased trend of digitisation of the Bangladesh economy. Bangladesh Bank is very supportive…. and they are launching BACH which will enable connectivity among the banks and encourage e-Commerce to leap forward."
Earlier, the US financial giant also became the first financial institution in Bangladesh to launch the Internet-based banking platform.
The online banking scheme called 'CitiDirect' has been a great success in the local market, Parvez said.
The Bank statistics show a total of 430,000 transactions worth of Tk 45 billion took place through Citi's online solution in 2008, up from 100,000 transactions three years back.
The New York-based bank said globally, Citi is already working on the next version of this award-winning Internet banking platform called CitiDirect Next Generation.
"Apart from internet banking solutions; the bank is also looking to integrate its solutions to the emerging m-Commerce space," Parvez said.
"As more people have mobile phones in Bangladesh than personal computers, this means greater opportunity to channel remittances at the grass-roots level using mobile services providers, banks and software that enables such services," he said.
The related policy is already under review of the central bank, he added.
Officials said Citi is also actively promoting export agency finance in Bangladesh.
The bank just arranged a $15 million financing from German lender DEG for Square Pharmaceuticals Limited for their project expansion.
The bank is actively working with other export Agencies to bring attractive financing options for local corporate houses in Dhaka and Chittagong, Parvez said.
Global financial giant Citibank, N.A. said Sunday it is ready to share its Internet-based payment gateway 'CitiConnect' with the revenue board in an effort to usher in e-governance and expedite tax collection in the country.
Parvez Murshed, the head of Citi's Global Transaction Services in Bangladesh, said the technology-based solution is already in use for tax collection in Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines.
"We are ready to introduce the system in Bangladesh as soon as we receive the green signal from the National Board of Revenue (NBR)," he said.
The bank's local officials have held series of talks with the senior NBR top brass and they have shown keen interest to use the latest technology.
"The cost of implementing the project would be around a hundred thousand US Dollar," Parvez told the FE.
"Nevertheless, we would offer the CitiConnect tax collection facility to the NBR free of cost. This will usher in e-governance and expedite tax collections process once it's launched in Bangladesh."
Citibank officials say apart from tax collection, CitiConnect solution can be used for collecting utility bills and other receivables on-line through the Internet.
"We are seeing an increased trend of digitisation of the Bangladesh economy. Bangladesh Bank is very supportive…. and they are launching BACH which will enable connectivity among the banks and encourage e-Commerce to leap forward."
Earlier, the US financial giant also became the first financial institution in Bangladesh to launch the Internet-based banking platform.
The online banking scheme called 'CitiDirect' has been a great success in the local market, Parvez said.
The Bank statistics show a total of 430,000 transactions worth of Tk 45 billion took place through Citi's online solution in 2008, up from 100,000 transactions three years back.
The New York-based bank said globally, Citi is already working on the next version of this award-winning Internet banking platform called CitiDirect Next Generation.
"Apart from internet banking solutions; the bank is also looking to integrate its solutions to the emerging m-Commerce space," Parvez said.
"As more people have mobile phones in Bangladesh than personal computers, this means greater opportunity to channel remittances at the grass-roots level using mobile services providers, banks and software that enables such services," he said.
The related policy is already under review of the central bank, he added.
Officials said Citi is also actively promoting export agency finance in Bangladesh.
The bank just arranged a $15 million financing from German lender DEG for Square Pharmaceuticals Limited for their project expansion.
The bank is actively working with other export Agencies to bring attractive financing options for local corporate houses in Dhaka and Chittagong, Parvez said.