Bank Asia, UNDP team up for social safety net payments

Bank Asia has recently teamed up with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to provide the village population with easier access to social safety net payments.

This new partnership aims at bringing financial safety payments and financial services at a doorstep, including providing financial literacy, the bank said in statement yesterday.

"This is a prime example of the private sector designing inclusive business models and services moving beyond corporate banking business," said Md Arfan Ali, president and managing director of Bank Asia.

"The partnership will expand bank account adoption, consequently accelerating the pathway out of poverty for approximately 10,000 people in the first two years." "Poverty reduction is the core mission of Bank Asia," A Rouf Chowdhury, chairman of the bank, said at the programme.

"In line with this, our bank has been working all over the country for financial inclusion of unbanked population using its digital banking platform and thus trying to make a tangible turn in the development of national economy."

The initial pilot phase of this project will run for a period of one year and cover one district, according to the statement.

During this period, a research study will be conducted to tailor a mobile application for digital financial services developed by Bank Asia specifically for this target group.

The pilot district will be selected by Bank Asia and UNDP, during the research phase, the bank said.

"We want to go beyond only facilitating access to services and we want to maximise the long-term impact," said Sudipto Mukerjee, UNDP Bangladesh's country director.

"With this partnership, we will ensure that people are exposed to financial literacy training, which is expected to impact daily decisions an average family makes when trying to balance a budget for living."