Sonali set to launch online banking soon

FE Report State- run Sonali Bank Limited is set to launch Online Real Time Banking System (ORTBS) to automate its branches to provide faster services to clients. "The automation process is expected to be launched anytime soon," a high official of the bank said. The biggest state lender has finally tapped Indian financial technology company Polaris to complete its networking work, although four software companies were in the race to secure the contract, the official said The core banking solution, he said, would allow the bank to run a single application for all its diverse functions. "This modern software is perfectly suited to develop, modify and launch innovative products and services, thereby improving the go-to-market timeline in a rapidly developing country like Bangladesh," the official said. As Sonali Bank is the largest state owned commercial Banks in the country with 1188 branches and operations in UK, USA, Middle East and India and as part of its transformational strategy, the bank wants to implement ORTB solutions in order to achieve efficiency in operations and improve customer satisfaction by ensuring better internal control and compliance, he added. The official noted that the UK branch would be automated by the end of December so that Bangladeshi diaspora community in Britain can enjoy new facilities. Humayun Kabir, the bank's Managing Director, said the automation programme would benefit the banking sector as a whole. "We've chosen intellect Core Banking Solutions (CBS) to help modernise the bank wing due to Polaris's hands-on experience in implementing financial technology solutions in both mature and dynamic markets to emerging markets globally," Mr Kabir said.