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Flexible school banking policy

Md. Mojammal Hoque | Monday, 4 August 2014


The Bangladesh Bank (BB) has been pressurising the country's commercial banks to open school banking accounts in an increasing number.  Already the banks have set targets for such bank accounts. This will affect bank rating. For this reason bank employees and sales team are under pressure of achieving their targets fixed by the bank.
It is a good initiative taken by the Bangladesh Bank to involve teenage students with banking aimed at habituating to saving for the future financial security of life. Gradually people are getting familiar with it and appreciate its merit. But the problem behind opening school banking account is the policy issued by the BB. It instructs the banks to open the account as a joint one with a student and a guardian for its operation by the latter. Obviously school banking account is to be treated as a minor account.
According to the minor act, an account can be opened in the name of a minor of 12 years old who can read, write and understand independently. This account will be operated by the minor account holder with a declaration that he/she can read, write and understand independently. This policy can be applied for school bank accounts.
The existing policy is somewhat stiff because it must involve three concerns i.e. an account holder, an operator (guardian) and a nominee. Under this policy, a student cannot avail of the enjoyment of banking because all financial transactions are made by his/her guardian. A student cannot feel that s/he is involved with banking though s/he has accounts in his/her name. If the central bank makes the procedure for opening school banking account flexible, mentioning that a child of 12 years old can open such an account and operate it all by himself or herself, banks will receive huge responses.
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