TARA marks nine years

BRAC Bank's flagship women-focused proposition, TARA, has marked its ninth anniversary, highlighting its growing role in advancing financial inclusion.

Launched on May 4, 2017, TARA has evolved into a comprehensive two-wing ecosystem --TARA Retail and TARA SME -- supporting women in their financial journeys, from opening their first bank accounts to running and scaling their own enterprises.

The platform now accounts for nearly 25 per cent of the country's retail banking deposit portfolio held by women, says a press statement.

TARA Retail serves women across all eight divisions of Bangladesh -- from salaried professionals to homemakers, students and first-time savers to senior citizens. Over 350,000 of them are retail customers holding more than Tk 140 billion in deposits.

Over the past nine years, BRAC Bank's 'TARA' proposition has multiplied its retail customer base more than 80 times and its deposits more than 60 times -- the trajectory of a proposition that began as a segment and is now an ecosystem.

The 'Homemaker Account' has removed the income-proof barrier that long excluded women managing households without formal income, with 98% of new customers onboarded digitally through eKYC.

The TARA Virtual Savings Account, with its virtual debit card, extended the proposition to women who prefer to bank entirely online.

Beyond products, the bank marks meaningful occasions with its women customers -- Mother's Day, Breast Cancer Awareness Month and International Women's Day -- as opportunities to offer something of genuine value.