Eastern Bank Limited (EBL) with Grameenphone and GPIT Ltd have recently launched Express Card, an innovative cash solution for their employees working across the country.

This "smart plastic wallet" will replace the employee's business expenditure reimbursement platform, the bank said in a statement yesterday. The organisations will deposit the business expenditure reimbursements to the individual card instead of physical cash handover.

The card will facilitate the employee to 24/7 cash access from any VISA logo ATMs and to swipe at over 10,000 visa merchant outlets countrywide. This will also enable the organisations free from the hassle of managing payments through traditional cheques or cash and also reducing the paper usage.

EBL Managing Director Ali Reza Iftekhar and GP Chief Executive Officer Tore Johnsen signed the agreement at the GP head office in Dhaka. Among others, EBL Deputy Managing Directors Muklesur Rahman and M Fakhrul Alam, EBL Head of cards Nazeem A Choudhury and Grameenphone Deputy CEO Raihan Shamsi were also present.

The card-based employee payment management system is unique in Bangladesh, EBL said. Apart from saving time and costs of fund management, the card will give discount offers at various merchant locations to the employees.

News: TheDaily Star/Bangladesh/17-Apr-2011