Citi Bank NA launched the CitiDirect mobile banking to offer better services to its corporate clients in Bangladesh.
CitiDirect Mobile, the award winning Internet banking platform, directly to users’ mobile phones, providing real-time access from anywhere.

The service will also allow company signatories to receive SMS notifications on pending payments and they can also use their mobile phones to log in to CitiDirect and authorise payments.  Commenting on this, Rashed Maqsood, managing director and Citi country officer-Bangladesh said Citi is committed to bringing world- class solutions to the Bangladesh market and I am delighted that we are one of the pilot countries in Asia for this new functionality.

News: The Independent/ Bangladesh/ 19-Oct-2011

The Bangladesh Bank (BB) has provided US$31 million to State-owned Commercial Banks (SCBs) to finance Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) for paying imported fuel oil bills.

Sonali Bank Limited alone received about one third of the greenbacks released recently, according to sources.

The central bank has so far released $380 million to the state-owned banks in the first quarter of the current fiscal.

The SCB’s have been refusing to foot the oil import bills in favour of cash strapped Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) which is incurring loss by selling petroleum products at rates lower than imported prices.

Especially, the BPC is facing fund crisis for supplying furnace oil for the country’s costly power plants.

The BPC is scheduled to repay loans to Islamic Development Bank (IDB) in every six months and the government would repay $300 million loan within this month, official said.

However, the pressure has been mounted on the BPC to procure additional petroleum fuels to meet the domestic requirement.

A senior official of the Bangladesh Bank said the SCB’s like Sonali, Janata and Agrani and Rupali banks are in serious cash crunch. He, however, said the banks would purchase dollars from inter-bank money market to meet dollar demands.

“Considering this, the central bank has utilised its reserves to pay petroleum products bills,” he said.

The BB has so far sold dollar worth $147 million to the state-owned banks during the last three and a half months with an exchange rate of Tk 75.86 per dollar. However, the BB has lent dollar to the banks for limited time.

According to the Bangladesh Bank sources, the BB would provide dollar to BPC from its reserved if the corporation fails to identify alternative sources to pay its import bills.

This would create additional pressure on the Bangladesh Bank reserve, official feared.

The BPC is now seeking loan from different countries to pay IDB loans. The reserve of the BB was $1.13 billion on Monday, according to Bangladesh Bank.

News: Daily Sun/ Bangladesh/ 19-Oct-2011

A business performance evaluation and conversation meeting of officials of Sonali Bank from the banks Rajshahi, Rangpur, Barisal, Khulna and Faridpur regions was held recently. Md Humayan Kabir, managing director and CEO of Sonali Bank presided over the meeting at the bank's head office in the city. Md Atiqur Rahman, DMD and Md Mainul Haque, DMD of the bank were the key speakers, said a press release.

Md Humayan Kabir said, the officials should be more active to attain the corporate goal.

He underscored the need for taking a strong drive to recover classified loan and disburse new well standard loan in a bid to maximise profit of the bank.

He further insisted the bankers to create future loan fund and investment through rendering best customer services and take steps to increase stable deposit base of the bank through customisation of the bank's various profitable products.

News: Daily Sun/ Bangladesh/ 19-Oct-2011

City Bank has launched its new corporate vision, mission and values at an all-employee gathering at a stadium in the city recently. The event took place online across all regions of the country simultaneously, said a press release. This is the first bankers' conference which has been broadcasting live. At the event, the bank launched its new corporate vision titled, "The financial supermarket with a winning culture offering enjoyable experiences." Mahmood Sattar, MD and CEO of the bank, presided over the event.

News: Daily Sun/ Bangladesh/ 19-Oct-2011

National Bank Limited (NBL) recently organised a month-long foundation training course for its probationary officers in the city. A total of 27 probationary officers attended the training, says a press release. Additional Managing Director of the bank Md. Badiul Alam distributed certificates among the participants in the concluding function. NBL Training Institute’s Principal Md Majibur Rahman and senior faculty member Zahiruddin Md. Babar, among others, were also present.

News: Daily Sun/ Bangladesh/ 19-Oct-2011