The access to and use of formal banking services at the upazila level improved substantially between 2010 and 2015, according to a recent study that highlighted the government's efforts to take financial services closer to the people.

The General Economics Division of the Planning Commission carried out the study with support from the statistics department of the central bank.

The findings of the study titled 'Banking Atlas' will be published in Dhaka tomorrow.

According to the report, Bangladesh has shown a steady upward trend in all eight major banking variables at the upazila level, giving a boost to the government's financial inclusion efforts.

Banking Atlas consists of 48 maps on the eight major banking variables from 2010 to 2015 at the sub-district level.

The number of branches of all banks increased at the upazila level during the time. The branch density, the average number of branches of all banks per square kilometre, rose to 0.86 from 0.71.

The average number of branches per 100,000 adults went up to 11.34 in 2015 from 9.25 in 2010.

The average size of deposits and loans also witnessed a significant rise. An adult's bank deposit nearly trebled to Tk 118,050 in 2010 from Tk 44,500 five years ago. The loan per account increased to Tk 24,970 from Tk 17,170.

According to the report, while the outreach of branches in terms of geographical density and account per adult increased substantially over the period for the whole country, the rate of increase is much higher in rural areas.

“This growth is largely driven by the growth in branches and accounts of private banks.” 

The southern part of the country saw much higher proliferation in the number of bank accounts between 2010 and 2015.

“This is interesting because we don't see such patterns for the branch density. It implies that the number of accounts per branch has grown at a much faster rate in the south than in the north during the period.”

According to the GED, the Banking Atlas will help Bangladesh Bank as well as the government identify the regions where greater banking penetration is required.

“It will also help private sector banks take informed decisions on opening a branch upon identifying the potential untapped markets.”