Bank Asia on Saturday awarded higher study scholarship to 22 insolvent meritorious students as a part of its corporate social responsibility.

The students hailing from Malkhanagar, Sirajdikhan and Baligaon of Munshigonj district and Rohitpur of Keranigonj in Dhaka district received the scholarship money from A Rouf Chowdhury, chairman of the bank.

Sirajdikhan upazila nirbahi officer Md Abul Kashem and upazila chairman Md Mohiuddin Ahmed were present as special guests at the scholarship awarding function at Sirajdikhan upazila auditorium of Munshigonj.

 
Director of Bank Asia Shah Md Nurul Alam, deputy managing director Aminul Islam and senior executive vice-president Md Arfan Ali were also present.

 
A large number of people including students, teachers, journalists, businessmen and local elite attended the function.

Atiur Rahman, governor of Bangladesh Bank, speaks at the launch of the weeklong e-commerce events organised by the central bank and Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services at the Westin hotel in Dhaka yesterday. Photo: BB

Bangladesh Bank Governor Atiur Rahman yesterday asked all commercial banks to join the National Payment Switch (NPS) network by the end of January to facilitate quick transactions and e-commerce.

The transaction system has changed a lot over the years and the use of plastic money is increasing among the people, Rahman said.

Currently, 46 lakh people have debit or credit cards and there are 30 lakh mobile bank accounts across the country, which help quick and safe banking transactions, he added.

The NPS is a common electronic payment platform for commercial banks, which promises to revolutionise e-commerce in Bangladesh.

Once all banks in Bangladesh join the NPS, a client of any bank holding a credit or debit card will be able to draw cash from any ATM (automated teller machine) and POS (point of sales).

And transaction costs will significantly go down as the transactions will be routed through the NPS instead of Visa, Master or Amex card networks abroad. Moreover, purchase and sales can be done by card over the internet and web portals within the country.

Only three banks --Dutch -Bangla, Pubali and Southeast -- have so far joined the NPS.

“The pace of transaction will be faster if the number of mobile bank accounts reach one crore soon,” Rahman said.

The central bank also plans to bring in Paypal, a global online payment system.

The governor spoke to businessmen at the launch of weeklong e-commerce events, at the Westin hotel in Dhaka as the chief guest.

Bangladesh Bank and Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS) have jointly organised the series to create awareness on benefits of e-commerce.

Experts of both BB and BASIS will hold seminars and roundtables on e-commerce throughout the week.

People of the country are trying to sell their products through the internet, but they are facing problems in transaction, said Abul Kashem Md Shirin, deputy managing director of Dutch-Bangla Bank Ltd.

Dutch Bangla Bank started its internet payment gateway from in June 2010 and later BRAC Bank also joined in the system. Banks are working as the medium between sellers and buyers in internet banking transactions, he said.

The full utilisation of e-commerce will also help quick revenue collection for the government, said Ashim Kumar Dasgupta, an executive director of Bangladesh Bank.

“We need two important things -- roadmap and role-map -- for making the e-commerce popular to the people,” said Sayeeful Islam, chief executive officer of SSLCommerz, an e-commerce merchant service provider.

Syed Mahbubur Rahman, managing director of BRAC Bank, and Fahim Masroor, president of BASIS, also spoke.

Mohammed Nurul Amin, Managing Director and CEO of NCC Bank, inaugurates the online remittance management system in Dhaka recently.

NCC Bank Limited launched its in-house developed online Remittance Management System (RMS) service to synchronise its foreign remittance flow.

As a result, customers of NCC Bank will be able to get their remittance faster than before as the RMS is centralised and real-time remittance tracking can be easier and faster, said a press release.

Mohammed Nurul Amin, Managing Director and CEO of NCC Bank, inaugurated the system as chief guest in Dhaka recently.

Golam Hafiz Ahmed, Additional Managing Director, AK Md Siddique, Consultant, Mohabbat Khan, TM Faquque Chowdhury and Akhtar Hamid Khan, Deputy Managing Directors of the bank attended the function.

Social Islami Bank Limited (SIBL) recently won “Best Enterprise” and “Manager of the Year” awards from Europe Business Assembly (EBA), UK, as recognition to the bank’s journey towards excellence, successful management and dynamic growth in 2012.

Europe Business Assembly (EBA), UK, at an award giving ceremony at Holfburg Palace in Viena, Austria announced this. The bank was evaluated on its performance in the year 2012, its financial statures, vision and long term strategies, said a press release.

The “Best Enterprise” and “Manager of the Year” awards are presented by the London-based international organisation, Europe Business Assembly (EBA), UK, which recognises the efforts and contributions of banks and other financial institutions for development and management of economic, social and humanitarian collaboration.

Anjan Chowdhury, Director of MTB and Managing Director, Square Consumer Products Limited, inaugurates an ATM booth of the bank at the premises of MTB Pabna branch Saturday.

Mutual Trust Bank Limited (MTBL) opened Samson H Chowdhury Memorial ATM booth, as part of expansion of its network to offer superior services to the bankhttp://bankinfobd.com/banks/28/Mutual_Trust_Bank’s growing client.

The ATM booth was named for paying respect of late Samson H Chowdhury, the bank’s former chairman, marking his first death anniversary, said a press release.

Anjan Chowdhury, Director of MTB and Managing Director, Square Consumer Products Limited inaugurated the ATM booth as the chief guest at the premises of MTB Pabna Branch Saturday.

Mostafizur Rahman, Deputy Commissioner, Pabna, Jahangir Hossain, Superintendent of Police, Pabna, M. Saidul Haque Chunnu, Zila Parishad Administrator, Baby Islam, Chairman, Pabna Diabetic Society, Md. Ahsan-uz Zaman, MTB Additional Managing Director, Shah Alam Patwary, Group Chief Information Officer of MTB, local elite, customers and senior officials of the bank, attended the function.