Commercial banks asked for taking final preparations
Wednesday, 22 July 2009
FE Report
The commercial banks have been asked for taking final preparations to connect with the central bank's automated clearing house, scheduled to go live from early November this year.
The instruction came at a review meeting of the chief executive officers and managing directors of all commercial banks, held at the central bank Tuesday, with Bangladesh Bank (BB) Governor Atiur Rahman in the chair.
Under the new system, payments will be settled using automated cheque clearing system and electronic fund transfer among 1050 bank branches in Dhaka initially, officials said.
"The automated clearing house will be established by November this year," BB governor told reporters after the meeting, adding that the central bank has planed to request Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for inauguration of the country's first automated clearing house.
The central bank earlier extended the deadline for introduction of automated clearing house by three months in consideration of requests from many banks, they added.
The Bangladesh Automated Clearing House (BACH) will be launched from November 8 instead of August 3 this year, according to the revised scheduled.
The commercial banks have been asked to take necessary preparations to issue MICR encoded checks in all regions and install hardware and software and establish connectivity within this timeframe, the BB said.
"After implementation in Dhaka, the automated process will spread to the regional clearing houses including Bangladesh Bank offices in Chittagong, Khulna, Rajshahi, Bogra, Sylhet, Barisal and Rangpur respectively," another BB official said.
The BACH, the automated payment system platform, has two components -- Bangladesh Automated Cheque Processing Systems (BACPS) and Bangladesh Electronic Funds Transfer Network (BEFTN).
The present payment and settlement system in Bangladesh is not at par with the best international practices, which emphasises the need for safe and secured payment and settlement and the reduction of gap between payment and settlement, according to the BB's annual report for the fiscal 2007-08.
The commercial banks have been asked for taking final preparations to connect with the central bank's automated clearing house, scheduled to go live from early November this year.
The instruction came at a review meeting of the chief executive officers and managing directors of all commercial banks, held at the central bank Tuesday, with Bangladesh Bank (BB) Governor Atiur Rahman in the chair.
Under the new system, payments will be settled using automated cheque clearing system and electronic fund transfer among 1050 bank branches in Dhaka initially, officials said.
"The automated clearing house will be established by November this year," BB governor told reporters after the meeting, adding that the central bank has planed to request Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for inauguration of the country's first automated clearing house.
The central bank earlier extended the deadline for introduction of automated clearing house by three months in consideration of requests from many banks, they added.
The Bangladesh Automated Clearing House (BACH) will be launched from November 8 instead of August 3 this year, according to the revised scheduled.
The commercial banks have been asked to take necessary preparations to issue MICR encoded checks in all regions and install hardware and software and establish connectivity within this timeframe, the BB said.
"After implementation in Dhaka, the automated process will spread to the regional clearing houses including Bangladesh Bank offices in Chittagong, Khulna, Rajshahi, Bogra, Sylhet, Barisal and Rangpur respectively," another BB official said.
The BACH, the automated payment system platform, has two components -- Bangladesh Automated Cheque Processing Systems (BACPS) and Bangladesh Electronic Funds Transfer Network (BEFTN).
The present payment and settlement system in Bangladesh is not at par with the best international practices, which emphasises the need for safe and secured payment and settlement and the reduction of gap between payment and settlement, according to the BB's annual report for the fiscal 2007-08.