Md Abdul Jalil Chowdhury, Managing Director and Choudhury Moshtaq Ahmed, Deputy Managing Director (DMD) of Mercantile Bank and Syed Wasec Md. Ali, DMD of First Security Islami Bank, seen at an agreement signing ceremony in Dhaka recently.

Mercantile Bank Ltd and First Security Islami Bank Ltd signed a ‘Subscription agreement’ recently.

As per the agreement, Mercantile Bank invested Tk 180 million in the Mudaraba Sub-ordinated Bond of First Security Islami Bank Ltd.

Md Abdul Jalil Chowdhury, Managing Director and Choudhury Moshtaq Ahmed, Deputy Managing Director (DMD) of Mercantile Bank and Syed Wasec Md. Ali, DMD of First Security Islami Bank were present.

News: The Daily Sun/Bangladesh/8th-jan-13

The world's top banking regulatory body on Sunday eased the first global liquidity rules scheduled to start applying to banks in 2015 and aimed at improving their ability to survive financial crises.

The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision said at a press conference here that it had widened the definition of the easy-to-sell assets that banks will have to hold to survive periods of stress.

News: The Daily Sun/Bangladesh/8th-jan-13

Md. Shafiqur Rahman has taken over the office of Managing Director of Social Islami Bank Limited (SIBL).

Prior to his new assignment, he was holding the current charge of the Managing Director of the bank.

Shafique, a post graduate in commerce from the University of Dhaka and also a diploma associate of the Institute of Bankers, Bangladesh, is a seasoned banker who has a professional banking career of over three decades.

He started his career as probationary officer in Sonali Bank Limited in 1977 and held various important positions in Sonali Bank Limited as Manager of different branches across the country until 2003.

He held the post of General Manager in Agrani Bank in 2003 and served the Bank as Manger of its Principal Branch. He had also worked at Jamuna Bank Limited and Southeast Bank Limited in senior management positions.

Having worked in various key positions in banks during his long professional career, Shafiq has attained specialisation in almost all the areas of banking encompassing investment, foreign exchange, HR, and information technology, treasury, branch management etc.

News: The Daily Sun/Bangladesh/8th-jan-13

Mobile banking (m-banking) in the country is gaining momentum by raising its contributions to channelising cash from urban to rural areas and thus enabling low-income people send money to their near and dear ones.

M-banking is a collaborative service of banks and telecom operators that has brought relief to the lives of people as they can collect funds at their homes from the earning members of their families staying apart at work places to meet monthly expenditures.

Fourteen out of total 23 banks those have secured licenses from Bangladesh Bank (BB) introduced m-banking. Of these, m-banking styled bKash of Brac Bank Ltd and money transfer services through mobile of Dutch Bangla Bank Ltd (No specific names of the service like one of Brac bank) are enjoying monopoly in the market.

As of December 31, numbers of clients of bKash reached around 237,423 while that of DBBL 172,000. According to data available from the two major m-banking service providers, per day per client transaction accounted Tk 553 in bKash while that of DBBL was Tk 487.

The number of DBBL agents is around 3,181 and cumulative transaction last year was $ 11 million, while the number of bKash agent is 5,383 and cumulative transaction is $14.8 million.

Islami Bank Bangladesh Ltd (IBBL), the largest private sector bank having over 7 million clients, has launched its m-banking service styled mCash last month with the commitment of providing fastest and hassle-free money transfer at the door step of the recipients across the country from and to city and urban areas simultaneously.

As a regulator, Bangladesh Bank authority is trying to promote m-banking service as part of its mission towards achieving inclusive economic growth, which covers people of all sections, clusters and casts irrespectively.

Commenting on the issue, Deputy Governor Abul Quashem said BB wants to establish bank-led m-banking in the country so that the central bank could check terrorist financing and other money laundering concerns properly.

He said there is telco-led mobile banking in many countries, which is not appropriate in Bangladesh.

“The BB wants banks which introduce m-banking will have to have respective guidelines for proper operation of the service; and we are working on it,” he said.

He said banks were directed to follow properly the BB guideline with regard to KYC (Know Your Client/Customer) in case of, agents, money sender and recipients. “Ensuring security of individuals (senders), institutions and the state in delivering money transfer service is very vital and banks were instructed in this regard,” he said.

IBBL’s executive body chairman Eng Eskandor Ali Khan said Islami Bank has developed own software to operate money transfer service through the mCash.

News: The Daily Sun/Bangladesh/8th-jan-13

Bangladesh Bank prioritised online payment service to accelerate e-commerce, Deputy Governor Nazneen Sultana said yesterday.

“Once people become habituated with IT [information technology] the success of e-commerce is just a matter of time,” she said.

But the financial institutions will have to ensure payment security and products will have to be delivered as promised, she added. Sultana's comments came at a roundtable on the potential and challenges of e-commerce as a business driver, held at Ruposhi Bangla Hotel in Dhaka.

The event, organised by Bangladesh Bank and Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS), was part of an e-commerce week that started on Saturday.

In India, 58 percent of the electronic transaction takes place for air and train ticket purchase, said Uttam Nayak, VISA's country manager for India and South Asia.

To popularise the e-commerce service in Bangladesh, he suggested introducing prepaid cash card service to attract the low-income people.

He also suggested that all the financial institutions are put on the same electronic payment platform so that individual banks need not develop their own.

Shameem Ahsan, senior vice-president of BASIS, said online payment is more secured than card transactions at shops as the customers pay directly to the banks and not the online portal.

Firoz Patel, executive vice-president of Payza, the international online payment platform that recently started operations in Bangladesh, said his company wants to see rapid growth in e-commerce in Bangladesh.

Citing the tremendous growth of the readymade garment industry formed 20 years ago, Sayeeful Islam, managing director of SSLCOMMERZ, said e-commerce, if started now, can scale similar heights.

The participants -- ranging from foreign and local IT experts to bankers, banking regulators and businesspeople -- called for introduction of all kinds of debit and credit cards and mobile payment facility for ease of online shopping.