Credit scheme for freelancers launched

Trust Bank Limited with support from the government launched Sunday a new product to help the country's insolvent IT freelancers get loan for buying laptop, utilise their skills and earn more foreign currency.

Each of the freelancers of 21-61 years age can borrow Tk 20,000-Tk 70,000 from any branch of the Trust Bank under its newly designed product 'Trust Futuretech'.

The consumer product was launched aiming to facilitate the government's "learning and earning programme", which has already developed 20,000 freelancers since 2012 and targeted to reach 70,000 by this year, officials said.

Bangladesh Bank (BB) Governor Dr Atiur Rahman formally launched the product by handing over the loan to some freelancers at a ceremony at the central bank.

At the programme, the Trust Bank and the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Division signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in this connection. ICT Division's secretary Md Nazrul Islam Khan and Trust Bank MD and CEO Ishtiaque Ahmed Chowdhury signed the MoU on behalf of their respective organisations.

The ICT Division gave guarantee against the laptop credit of each freelancer; debt equity ratio of the consumer product was set at 70: 30 under special consideration of the BB following request from the Trust Bank and the Division for the sake of supporting the freelancers. Generally, the ratio is 30: 70, officials said.

The freelancers, who successfully completed training under the learning and earning programme or the freelancer to entrepreneur programme or the mobile apps programme under the ICT Division, will be eligible for the credit.

They will have to repay the loan in equal monthly installment within two years; the installment against Tk 20,000 and maximum Tk 70,000 varies from Tk 956 to Tk 3,400.

The interest rate was set at 14 per cent. However, Dr Rahman proposed that the Trust Bank give a rebate of 1.0 per cent to the borrowers, who will repay the credit timely.

Other eligibility criteria include: the borrowers must have to be freelancers or entrepreneurs; having membership ID of the freelancers' association; showing evidence of working minimum 500 hours or documents of earning $100 a month as freelancers, officials said.

The signing ceremony was attended, among others, by BB Deputy Governor SK Sur Chowdhury and senior officials of the Trust Bank and the ICT Division.

Terming the laptop credit facilities of the Trust Bank and the ICT Division a milestone, the BB governor said the loan will help the freelancers buy modern laptop.

Highlighting the BB's different measures to facilitate the freelancing profession and the digitisation in the banking sector, Dr Rahman said other banks should follow in the footprint of the Trust Bank to create new entrepreneurs, generate ideas, thus propelling the country's economy toward prosperity.

"All other banks will also get same support and facilities, including relaxation of debt-equity ratio," Mr Sur said.

He also called upon the freelancers to repay the loan timely.

Mr Khan, who mooted the idea of providing laptop credit to the freelancers, said that he felt the need for laptop for the insolvent freelancers when he went to the Upazila level to train the freelancers.

The people, who had computers were being trained; even if the people having no computer were trained, it didn't benefit them as they could not utilise the know-how and skills gained from the training in the absence of own computers, he said.