HSBC supports Bangladesh's digital journey

The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) in Bangladesh organised a virtual session titled 'Webinar on e-Payment of Customs Duty' recently. The purpose of the initiative is to orient the Bank's valued corporate customers about the requirements and process of e-Payment and how HSBC can support customers in their digital journey. HSBC was the first bank in Bangladesh market to offer electronic solution for Customs Duty payments using HSBC's electronic banking platform - HSBCNet.By 1 January 2022 Customs duty payments through automated system will be mandatory by National Board of Revenue (NBR) in compliance with the requirements of WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA).
The webinar was attended by Mohammad Muslim Chowdhury, Comptroller and Auditor General of Bangladesh as the Chief Guest and Abu Hena Md. Rahmatul Muneem, Senior Secretary, Internal Resources Division & Chairman, National Board of Revenue (NBR) as the Guest of Honour. Ahmed Jamal, Deputy Governor, Bangladesh Bank also joined the event as Special Guest. Syed Golam Kibria, Member Customs Policy & ICT, NBR;Sujeet Kumar Pai Sarvotham, Country Head and Managing Director, Linde Bangladesh; A.A.M. Amimul Ehsan Khan, First Secretary, Customs Modernization & Project Management, NBR; Rafeza Khanom Kanta, DGM, Payments System Department, Bangladesh Bank;A K M Zahid Hossain, Senior System Analyst, NBR; Md. Mahbub ur Rahman, Chief Executive Officer, HSBC Bangladesh and Kevin Green, Country Head of Wholesale Banking, HSBC Bangladesh were present along with other senior officials.
Corporate customers in Bangladesh make various regulatory payments related to customs duty, income tax and value added tax (VAT) to NBR. Historically, such regulatory payments process was entirely manual where payments were made through Cashier's Orders, Demand Drafts. The process used to have a turnaround time of 1 to 3 days depending on the location of the customer and where the payments need to be deposited.
In October 2015, the central bank of Bangladesh introduced RTGS (Real Time Gross Settlement) payments in the banking industry. Leveraging RTGS infrastructure, NBR launched its Customs Duty payment solution in 2017 and HSBC collaborated to pioneer this initiative as the banking partner by linking the Bank's electronic payment channel HSBCNet. These payments get executed near real-time. Customers or their representatives get notified immediately regarding the successful payment and NBR's database also gets updated instantly. In case of any anomaly in the payment, the payment gets rejected and the client/ their representative gets notified accordingly.
Mohammad Muslim Chowdhury,Comptroller and Auditor General of Bangladesh said, "I thank NBR, Bangladesh Bank for taking various steps for the automation of different statutory payments including e-Duty. I acknowledge HSBC for taking the initiative to create awareness among corporates. Technology is changing the world and we have to embrace it to be relevant with the world. Automation of all kind of statutory payments should be implemented as soon as possible which will not only make the business easy but also reduce the GOVT borrowing cost and help improve the public service."
Mr. Abu Hena Md. Rahmatul Muneem, Senior Secretary, Internal Resources Division & Chairman, National Board of Revenue said, said, "NBR is continuously trying to make comfortable environment for any sorts of revenue collection and revenue administration and introduced many systems over last few months. ePayment is one of it which will tremendously ease the business and customs collection. This will be made mandatory, I hope beneficiaries will take things comfortably."
Ahmed Jamal, Deputy Governor, Bangladesh said, "I emphasize on the awareness creation of the 'e-Payment of customs duty' among various banks and corporate customers. If required Bangladesh Bank will further enhance the capability of RTGS to meet the demand of business community."
Mr. Syed Golam Kibria, Member Customs Policy & ICT, National Board of Revenue (NBR) said, "Digital journey of NBR has started in 1993 with collaboration of UNCTAD. NBR never look back from there and invested in the digitalization to make the payment process easier for the user. NBR will come up with new solutions for the Corporate customers in days to come. I thank HSBC for being the pilot bank for NBR in launching e-Duty payments system in 2017 and hope more collaboration from HSBC in future."
Commenting on the solution, Md. Mahbub ur Rahman, CEO, HSBC Bangladesh said, "This end-to-end electronic payment solution has significantly enhanced the efficiency and reduced the turnaround time of the Customs Duty Payments of corporate customers. As the leading trade bank, it is very befitting for us to to continue to collaborate with the National Board of Revenue and Bangladesh Bank in this digitalization journey. Together we are aiming to facilitate the revenue collection for the National Exchequer and we are very happy to leverage our expertise and excellence as a global bank."
HSBC's customs duty payment solution promotes the Bangladesh market in the positive light. This solution addresses Customs Duty payment volume handling with increased efficiency. Country as a whole can save resources and time, collect duties and clear goods in efficient manner which eventually adds value to country's growth.