Panelists at a national seminar on Saturday recommended preparing a virtual landscape offering innovative banking services in the country to harmonise the sector with the future demand of consumers being habituated with the use of smart phones and Internet.
They believe that Bangladesh has been ready to experience the paradigm shift in the banking services as mobile banking, Internet banking, credit system etc., have already been popular against the backdrop of rapid global technological changes and social networking.
They expressed their views at the session on 'technology and virtual banking in Bangladesh' organised by Association of Bankers, Bangladesh as part of the national seminar on Banking Future Vision at a city hotel on the day.
Former chief executive officer (CEO) of the City Bank Limited and Eastern Bank Limited K Mahmood Sattar moderated the seminar. It was also attended by former Deputy Governor of Bangladesh Bank Mohammad A Rumee Ali, Professor of Computer Science and Engineering at Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) and Director (Training) of Bangladeshi Institute of Banking and Management (BIBM) Dr SM Ahsan Habib.
The CEO of Standard Chartered Bank, Bangladesh, Jim McCabe, presented the keynote paper at the session.
The keynote speaker termed the socio-demographic conditions of the country prospective for virtual banking or no-person banking.
He added that emergence of middle income group, typical urban-based development and increase in affordability of people, 50 per cent of the population being young and moderate literacy rate created the scope to spur interest in high speed convenience-based banking.
He said technology and banking were intricately intertwined and relevant technology penetrated the life of the people. He cited the examples of amazon, tweeter, facebook etc..
The CEO, however, said though the interconnectivity was infiltrating the banking world, the financial industry's desire to improve the customer service with new technology was hardly visible.
Mr Sattar said the changes experienced due to digital technology must be adopted and it should have to be done through focusing on different areas including payment platform, movement of data and cash-free society.
The sector would experience a paradigm shift due to the global changes and bankers should earn the confidence of the consumers and think of their comfortability and benefits.
Rumee Ali, also chairman of B-kash, however, called upon the bankers to be innovative and open-minded and earn trust of people before delivering banking services without any branch.
He said risk-taking ability and long-term profitability etc. were the core factors for this kind of model-based banking. He added that banks were always behind in the innovative mobile banking service as B-Kash, ATM, credit cards were popularised in the country by other agencies.
BUET professor Ahsan Habib emphasized affordability of mobile and online banking products.
He said reduction of banking cost and financial regulation and smooth connection would encourage adoption of technology.
To make the virtual banking sustainable profit should be considered in the long term and technology be made for the people.
smunima@yahoo.com
