Weather | Dhaka 
Hassles are about to be over. Shoppers will no longer have to go to market spending hours in traffic jams. One does not need to stand in long queues to pay utility bills. All are now possible on the internet.
Bangladesh Bank yesterday introduced online payment systems facilitating fund transfers and payment of utility bills on the net. The new move allows people to use local currency credit cards for online transactions within the country.
Although these services are being introduced on a smaller scale, it is seen as the first step toward a full-fledged online banking.
This move will certainly enhance the use of e-commerce and online banking services facilitating subscribers of all commercial banks in Bangladesh.
The central bank issued a circular to all commercial banks saying subscribers to internet banking will now be able to pay utility bills online from customers' accounts to billing accounts.
"This will create a revolution in e-commerce and online banking," said Bangladesh Bank Governor Dr Atiur Rahman.
Online fund transfer between two accounts under the same name in the same bank will also be possible.
The circular mentioned that e-commerce-based transaction between buyers and sellers can also be done through internet banking. Online transactions by credit card in local currency will also be possible.
“This is the first and the most significant step towards electronic transaction in the country,” Munir Hasan, consultant, Access to Information (A2I) project under the Prime Minister's Office, told The Daily Star.
Vice Chairman of Association of Bankers Bangladesh Nurul Amin, also managing director of National Credit and Commerce Bank Ltd, said: "Banks need to be prepared for offering such services. Customisation and integration are necessary for this purpose."
Security measures along with a legal framework need to be put in place to safeguard both customers and banks, he added.
These transactions will only be possible now within the accounts under the same bank offering online banking.
Online transaction between banks will be possible with the introduction of e-Payment Gateway, an e-commerce application service provider service that authorises payments for e-businesses and online retailers.
Bangladesh Bank had taken the initiative to implement the e-Payment Gateway back in 2008.
According to a report, the system should be ready for deployment within the next six to eight months and is expected to be operational at the beginning of the next financial year.
“We collect payment manually from 300-400 clients every day. The system consumes huge time and money. Now we are ready to start online payment collection on a pilot basis. We were waiting for this to happen for quite long,” said Fahim Mashroor, chief executive officer of Bdjobs.com.
Shoeb Ahmed, former general secretary of Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services, also appreciated the initiative.
He said, “Banks are probably ready for this. But stakeholders and government bodies should be prepared for online banking, otherwise it might not be utilised properly."
Shoeb said they proposed that the government establish a central payment gateway.
Physical credit and debit card payments are available across the country. Banks need to introduce Application Programme Interface (API) to implement the online credit card payment system. API ensures secure payment on the internet by providing both credit card and PIN numbers.
All banks have been advised to remain alert to the misuse of online payment system for money laundering. They will have to report to the financial intelligence unit on whether any irregularity or crime has been committed in violation of the anti-money laundering act.
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Tuesday, November 3, 2009 12:11 AM GMT+06:00 (14 weeks ago)
superb idea
Tuesday, November 3, 2009 12:16 AM GMT+06:00 (14 weeks ago)
Really we are gradually entering in an era of Digital Bangladesh. If the initiative of the central bank becomes successful, people will no longer curse their fate for being a citizen of Bangladesh.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009 01:10 AM GMT+06:00 (14 weeks ago)
WoW!!! What a good news!
Let us go for true e-commerce era. Thanks for the policy makers and the reporter for sharing a good news.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009 01:38 AM GMT+06:00 (14 weeks ago)
Whats a pleasure for all of Bangladeshi people.best of luck
Regards
Shahid
South Africa
Tuesday, November 3, 2009 06:30 AM GMT+06:00 (14 weeks ago)
Welcome to the digital age, and the age of digital piracy and digital identity theft.
This is one of the biggest steps to digitize Bangladesh, however people also needs to know (taught in case of bangladesh) about how to keep their identities and money secure.
In Western Countries banks are loosing millions of dollars because of online theft, however the banks are paying for it.
In case of Bangladesh it is very likely that the banks will not pay the person until or unless he comes from an influenced branch.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009 07:52 AM GMT+06:00 (14 weeks ago)
Security measures to these online services are very critical. High priority must be set for appropriate design and implementation. Misuse of the system can be a great disaster for a developing country like Bangladesh. The responsible authority should think of all different misconducts and have contingency to handle them, rather than trying to solve it after the incident.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009 08:39 AM GMT+06:00 (14 weeks ago)
Bangladesh Bank took about 10 yrs to respond to introduce online transaction facility. We are too late; this news should have been publish in 1 column so that we could hide some of our shame.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009 08:39 AM GMT+06:00 (14 weeks ago)
If it implement, it will great.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009 09:11 AM GMT+06:00 (14 weeks ago)
Envisioned by digital Bangladesh we dream to be twisted in global economic, social, cultural realities. While E-Payment Gateway is like rain, my eye is on rainbow. It is imperative that Bangladesh utilize full-fledged E-Banking to position herself glowing in emerging economies. Clearly we are now one step ahead !
Tuesday, November 3, 2009 11:13 AM GMT+06:00 (14 weeks ago)
Good though but how far,how long & up to what extent - doubtful Bangladeshi Systems
Tuesday, November 3, 2009 09:55 AM GMT+06:00 (14 weeks ago)
Nice one!!
Good news!!!!
Go ahead Bangladesh!
Tuesday, November 3, 2009 10:02 AM GMT+06:00 (14 weeks ago)
No doubt it is trendsetter initiative. But cyber security is one of major issues of consideration to successful the implementation of online payment.
Edward Apurba Singha, President, NeoSTAR Alliance (NSA)
Tuesday, November 3, 2009 10:04 AM GMT+06:00 (14 weeks ago)
Authority - Thank you very much. This should be implemented at least 4-5 years back. But at least we wake up now. We need to implement it as fast as possible. Having fully loaded E-Banking will not only provide the users flexibility, but also reduce people movement - reduce jam, save time and also will open new era of many online business. Well done Government!
Tuesday, November 3, 2009 10:16 AM GMT+06:00 (14 weeks ago)
This is the stepping stone for bigger and better things to shape up in our country through the adoption of modern way of banking/transaction. I am still waiting for that day when we would be allowed to do online transaction through foreign currency but it is not so far-fetched an idea now as it seemed a year ago. Let us embrace this change and take whatever measures are warranted to facilitate e-commerce. We must have to shed our negative attitude towards technology. After all it is for this very prejudice or lack of knowledge that we still remain so far behind the others in this connected world. It's about time we moved on! But that's a good start nonetheless. Let's just hope our leaders are a bit tech savvy now so much so that they can bring technological benefits to the masses.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009 10:35 AM GMT+06:00 (14 weeks ago)
Its really matter of joy that finally we getting the facilities. the govt finally going to a positive move. we hope such types of positive movement will continue.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009 10:44 AM GMT+06:00 (14 weeks ago)
We've achieved the Milestone#1 in the E-Commerce front.. As the technology gets deployed & rolled out for individual clients we then need to focus on training the banks staff on how to keep the back-end environment secure as well as educating clients on how to use the web interface confidently. Once sustainblity is assured we'll see tons of people coming on board to benit from this new facility.. this is a great news!
Cheers,
Shamim, Deutsche Bank, Tokyo
Tuesday, November 3, 2009 11:02 AM GMT+06:00 (14 weeks ago)
I really appreciate that the online payment system is going to be established. It will reduce our hassal to wait in a long queues to pay utilities bill or to wait on the traffic jam to reach to the bank. I am looking forward to use the facilities of online bankig.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009 11:22 AM GMT+06:00 (14 weeks ago)
It's a real good news for all those who has dependency on internet. i am sure it'll encourage many more foreign investors to start business here. i should say this day would be a milestone for many developments in future. thanks to all who were involved with making this decision.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009 11:50 AM GMT+06:00 (14 weeks ago)
Good initiative taken. Thanks to all concerned, specially to the BB Governor. This can save a lot of our precious time and hassle and we can do our own core jobs giving enough time. Everyone should be thinking like this how we can move forward.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009 12:15 PM GMT+06:00 (14 weeks ago)
A delayed, yet commendable step by BB. Hope BB will be careful in providing guidelines for the credit card companies as well as credit rating agencies so that the spread and fees don't get out of control as is the case in the USA. Credit history should better be integrated into our culture since we have unique national ID. Moreover, security will be an important issue for which BB needs a dynamic IT workforce (may be outsourced) to cope with increasingly sophisticated e-commerce. Credit card companies should be strictly monitored so that they don't go for malpractices like faking TIN etc. Not only the credit card companies, but also the utility companies don't have reputation of trustworthiness and during introduction of a new system there remains every single chance to exploit the naive consumers. We should all be patient in implementing this system as Motijheel/Gulshan does not necessarily represent the whole country regarding readiness.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009 12:45 PM GMT+06:00 (14 weeks ago)
I hope PayPal will be available within no time.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009 12:50 PM GMT+06:00 (14 weeks ago)
Its too late!
Tuesday, November 3, 2009 01:22 PM GMT+06:00 (14 weeks ago)
This revolution of online banking will exert an positive influence on our money market economy.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009 04:23 PM GMT+06:00 (14 weeks ago)
It's the news of the day. It will be a boon to the NRBs who would be able to pay their utility bills, property taxes etc. promptly and timely though living thousands of miles away from home. It's great.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009 05:05 PM GMT+06:00 (14 weeks ago)
It's really a remarkable development in Bangladeshi economy.
To get full benefit of it we need to ensure that we have high-speed and uninterrupted internet and electricity everywhere in the country.
Like many others I also want to give huge emphasis on online transaction's security. This should come first. Online transaction and banking is quite matured now globally, so we should be able to take appropriate measures in light of other countries experience.