Thrust on rationalising tax rate on banking automation products
Thursday, 3 June 2010
FE Report
IT and banking automation experts at a discussion in the city Tuesday called for rationalizing the 'high' tax rate imposed on banking automation products in the upcoming national budget to make modern banking services more affordable to the common people.
Security printing products and Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) should enjoy the similar tax provision like other majority IT products given their strong importance in providing high quality banking services- the discussants said.
"The tax rate imposed on ATMs in Bangladesh is quite high comparing to many other parts of the world", said Stelios Fragkos, who is the Vice President of NCR Corporation in Middle East, Eastern Mediterranean region and Africa.
"Currently, the rate of Value Added Tax on ATM and similar banking automation products in Bangladesh are around 35 to 40 percent while in most Middle Eastern countries, the rate is within single digit", he told FE.
Technomedia Limited- a leading vendor of banking automation services organized the occasion to showcase the company's progress in the relevant fields.
The NCR senior executive noted that 'rationalizing the high tax' on banking automation products would result in cheaper price and wider accessibility of such facilities to the common people.
"In Bangladesh, still a large majority of the population cannot access modern banking services as ATMs and similar facilities are not widely available countrywide", Fragkos said.
"In Europe, there are 700 ATMs for every million people and in the Middle East, the rate is 400 per million."
"In Bangladesh, on the other hand, the total number of ATM machines is around 1500, which should grow by at least ten times within a few years to catch up with the growing local demand", he added.
NCR Corporation- the US based technology giant which specializes in automated products for retail, financial and public sector industries, have recently tied up with Technomedia Limited to provide banking automation products for the local financial institutions.
Technomedia Limited is presently a major vendor of banking automation services in the local industry. According to official statistics, the company has a significant share of MICR (Magnetic Ink Character Recognition) encoded cheque processing and ATM machines in Bangladeshi market.
"Our company is virtually the pioneer of ATM technology and MICR solutions in Bangladesh", said Joshoda Jibon Deb Nath, Managing director of Technomedia Limited on the occasion.
"Being a member of Financial Service Division within 1.5 years, we have successfully sold 850 units of NCR ATMs among a number of financial institutions", he added.
Technomedia officials also said that the company would aim for stable business growth in the near future by offering innovative IT solutions and refined state-of-the-art products.
Leading personalities from the IT industry and the banking sector were also present on the occasion.
IT and banking automation experts at a discussion in the city Tuesday called for rationalizing the 'high' tax rate imposed on banking automation products in the upcoming national budget to make modern banking services more affordable to the common people.
Security printing products and Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) should enjoy the similar tax provision like other majority IT products given their strong importance in providing high quality banking services- the discussants said.
"The tax rate imposed on ATMs in Bangladesh is quite high comparing to many other parts of the world", said Stelios Fragkos, who is the Vice President of NCR Corporation in Middle East, Eastern Mediterranean region and Africa.
"Currently, the rate of Value Added Tax on ATM and similar banking automation products in Bangladesh are around 35 to 40 percent while in most Middle Eastern countries, the rate is within single digit", he told FE.
Technomedia Limited- a leading vendor of banking automation services organized the occasion to showcase the company's progress in the relevant fields.
The NCR senior executive noted that 'rationalizing the high tax' on banking automation products would result in cheaper price and wider accessibility of such facilities to the common people.
"In Bangladesh, still a large majority of the population cannot access modern banking services as ATMs and similar facilities are not widely available countrywide", Fragkos said.
"In Europe, there are 700 ATMs for every million people and in the Middle East, the rate is 400 per million."
"In Bangladesh, on the other hand, the total number of ATM machines is around 1500, which should grow by at least ten times within a few years to catch up with the growing local demand", he added.
NCR Corporation- the US based technology giant which specializes in automated products for retail, financial and public sector industries, have recently tied up with Technomedia Limited to provide banking automation products for the local financial institutions.
Technomedia Limited is presently a major vendor of banking automation services in the local industry. According to official statistics, the company has a significant share of MICR (Magnetic Ink Character Recognition) encoded cheque processing and ATM machines in Bangladeshi market.
"Our company is virtually the pioneer of ATM technology and MICR solutions in Bangladesh", said Joshoda Jibon Deb Nath, Managing director of Technomedia Limited on the occasion.
"Being a member of Financial Service Division within 1.5 years, we have successfully sold 850 units of NCR ATMs among a number of financial institutions", he added.
Technomedia officials also said that the company would aim for stable business growth in the near future by offering innovative IT solutions and refined state-of-the-art products.
Leading personalities from the IT industry and the banking sector were also present on the occasion.