Around Tk 7,000 crore worth of cheques are being cleared a day under the electronic payment system, which makes the economy vibrant, Bangladesh Bank Deputy Governor Nazneen Sultana said yesterday.

The central bank's initiative has revolutionised the payment system, she said at the launch of Al-Arafah Islami Bank's mobile banking service—Hellocash—in the capital.

Around 1.5 lakh cheques are being cleared a day with the electronic payment system. “Previously, it used to take three or more days to clear a cheque.”

A huge change has taken place in electronic fund transfer, Sultana said. About 10 lakh instructions are received and Tk 300 crore in funds are transferred electronically a day, she said.

The salaries of government and non-government employees are now transferred to their accounts within a minute, said Sultana.

The central bank bears the cost of running the system, she added. “Our governor [Atiur Rahman] often says this is a kind of CSR of the central bank. We want people to get used to electronic banking and take benefits from it.”

Twenty out of the 28 banks which got Bangladesh Bank's approval for mobile banking, including Al-Arafah, have so far introduced the service.

At present, around Tk 391 crore is transacted through mobile banking, she said.

Transaction in banks did not decrease even amid political unrest, thanks to the electronic fund transfer facilities, she said.

Banking services are not available in all the 68,000 villages of the country, said Md Habibur Rahman, managing director of Al-Arafah.

About 70 percent of the population has mobile phones, he said, adding that his bank will try to extend such services to all of them through mobile phones.

The bank's new service will also allow clients to pay utility bills, enjoy cash-in and cash-out services, send-receive remittance and many other transactions with security and ease, he said.

Badiur Rahman, chairman of the bank, and SM Shameem Iqbal, vice chairman, also spoke.