BB asks banks to follow bank-led model
Bangladesh Bank has asked scheduled banks to follow the bank-led model of mobile financial service to avoid confusion over who is the principal provider of the service, said BB officials.
A central bank official told New Age on Thursday that the BB on Monday issued letters to the managing directors and chief executive officers of all banks, asking them not to sign any agreement with other companies violating the BB rules of the mobile financial service.
The BB asked the banks to sign deals with other companies in such a way that clients could easily recognise that the ownership of the service was retained by the banks.
The BB has recently received a number of requests from the banks that they want to form subsidiary companies to expand their mobile financial service, a BB official told New Age on Thursday.
‘So, the BB has warned the banks not to breach the central bank’s regulations in the mobile banking,’ he said.
The BB asked the banks that they must follow the regulations accurately in signing any agreement with other organisation or in forming any subsidiary company to give the mobile banking service, he said.
Another BB official said that the banks usually provided the mobile banking service through telecom companies like Grameenphone or Robi. The practice gives an impression that the telecom companies are the principal organisations behind the service, he said.
He said, ‘The BB has asked the banks to promote their own branding in the mobile financial service to avert such confusion.’
He said, ‘A good number of countries have introduced the mobile banking service under non-bank-led model and bank-led model but there is no scope to provide the service under the non-bank-led model in our country.’
Out of 47 banks which got mobile banking service licence from the BB, 23 banks introduced the service.
‘But, only three to four of them possess the capacity of giving the service,’ he said.
According to the BB guideline on the mobile financial services, providers and customers mainly two types of mobile financial services (bank-led and non-bank-led) are followed worldwide.
From legal and regulatory perspective, only the bank-led model will be allowed to operate in Bangladesh, the guideline said.
The bank-led model will offer an alternative to conventional branch-based banking to unbanked population through appointed agents facilitated by the mobile network operators and solution providers, it said.
Customer account, termed ‘mobile account’ will rest with the bank and will be accessible through customers’ mobile device. Mobile account will be a non-cheque limited purpose account, the guideline said.
BB executive director Dasgupta Asim Kumar told New Age on Thursday that the central bank had asked the banks to follow the bank-led model on mandatory basis.
The BB took the step so that the banks would give attention more before signing deals with other companies in this regard, he said.
Besides, the banks will have to bear all responsibilities if its partner companies perpetrate any anomaly while providing the mobile financial services to the clients.
-With New Age input
