BRAC Bank steps into 11th year
BRAC Bank to touch millions through mobile financial service
BRAC Bank, one of the leading private banks of the country, at a press conference disclosed that millions of banked and unbanked people of the country will get access to banking services through mobile phones from subsidiary of BRAC Bank, which will be open to users in a few days. BRAC Bank authority made the disclosure at a press conference organised on the occasion of its 10th anniversary in the in the city on Saturday, says a press release.
BKash, a joint-venture between BRAC Bank and US-based Money in Motion, is using a fully encrypted VISA technology platform for transactions over mobile phones.
`bKash will fundamentally change the way people now do transactions as in future all transactions can be done through mobile phones. Customers will not need to come to the bank, rather the bank will come to their places’, said Syed Mahbubur Rahman, managing director and CEO of BRAC Bank.
BRAC Bank launched its operation 10 years back with the objective of bringing unbanked mass people under formal banking coverage. The business model was simple: ‘mobilizing deposits from urban areas and disbursing it to rural areas’. bKash is a leap frog in that journey of financial inclusion for the ‘mass’ with state of art technology and security.
`Your mobile phone will become your wallet. Customers can avail financial services through any phone, even by the handset that cost the lowest. Our menu-driven system is very user-friendly so that anybody can use the service,” added the managing director of BRAC Bank at the press conference.
Country’s youngest bank already has set some records: it has acquired over 12 lac customers, bringing full banking services across not only SME, but all strata of the banking industry. Unique industry-initiatives like OMNIBUS, ELDORADO and public-private-partnerships witnessed BRAC Bank leading a tech-savvy platform for the industry to make financial solutions faster and more accessible to people.
`Being the youngest bank in Bangladesh, we have emerged as the largest SME bank serving about 3.65 lac entrepreneurs at grassroots level, an achievement that helped global recognition for this Bangladeshi Bank”, said Mamdudur Rashid, deputy managing director of the bank.
The bank believes in 3P philosophy –People, Planet and Profit – and has been active in Green Banking. It has already turned 22 of its SME Unit Offices solar-powered, and plans to turn the rest by 2012. To facilitate solar-based business initiatives in a focused manner BRAC Bank has established `enewable Energy Desk’ under guidelines of Bangladesh Bank.
Apart from Business, BRAC Bank has been active in CSR as well. As a latest initiative, the bank has signed up with BRAC to extend financial support to Libya-returnees, mentioned Zeeshan Kingshuk Huq, Head of Corporate Affairs to the Press.
Kash has already signed with a leading mobile operator and is in dialogue with others so that the entire mobile subscription base–which currently stands at around 7.5 crore–will be able to have individual digital wallets to avail necessary financial services.
-With The News Today input