Brac Bank to use Gates Foundation grant for women, small businesses

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has approved a grant for Brac Bank to leverage the digitalisation of banking products and services to cater to a significant number of cottage, micro and small enterprises (CMSEs) and women.

The foundation has extended the grant to facilitate a set of milestones towards greater financial inclusion in Bangladesh, the bank said in a press release.

"This grant from a globally renowned foundation will help us expand the inclusive initiatives and reach the grassroots level," said Selim RF Hussain, managing director and CEO of the bank.

"This strategic project will empower micro-entrepreneurs and women to imprint their digital footprints and shape the digital financial inclusion landscape of the country," he said.

"We will leverage on our extensive network, comprehensive Women Banking Segment TARA and digital banking capabilities to best utilise the fund," said Syed Abdul Momen, deputy managing director and head of SME banking of the bank.

"… (This will) bring more grassroots women and CMSEs into banking and strengthen their digital presence," he said.

A major goal of this programme is to provide digital lending solutions to the CMSEs with small amounts of emergency funds, which are unsecured and low cost and which require lesser documentation, through digital lending application Shafollo.

Besides, marginalised women will be empowered through customised formal banking products and services of agent banking and various market linkage and capacity development programmes.