Bangladesh Bank yesterday asked banks in the country to closely monitor their agent banking programmes by appointing dedicated officials in order to ensure transparency of operations.
Quarterly or monthly physical visits by bank staff or other authorised personnel will have to be carried out to ensure that agents strictly conduct their financial operations within the purview of related guidelines and contracts, according to a central bank notice.
Banks will have to submit a quarterly report to Bangladesh Bank providing information on any financial irregularities, fraud, forgeries, scams, and so on within seven working days after the end of each quarter.
No agent will relocate, transfer, replace or close their agent banking outlet without prior written consent of the respective bank, the notice said.
Subsequently, banks have to take prior approval from Bangladesh Bank for the relocation of any outlet as well as transfer or replacement of the outlet’s ownership.
However, no such approval would be required in case of the closure of an outlet, it added.
There were 13,086 agents across the country as of December while the number was 11,925 a year ago, central bank data showed.
The deposit balance in agent banking windows collectively stood at Tk 24,294 crore last year, up 52 per cent from the year before.
Meanwhile, loan disbursement through agent banking channels increased by 182 per cent year-on-year to hit Tk 5,347 crore in 2021.
Some 29 banks are now providing financial services to their clients through this alternative mode of banking.
The central bank issued an agent banking guideline in 2013 but the licensees did not start full-fledged operations until 2016.
