Financial inclusion deserves broader attention: official

Bangladesh is doing better in mobile financial services, but it needs more attention from all stakeholders, Md Ashraful Alam, deputy general manager of the financial inclusion department at the central bank, said yesterday.

The government is in the process of finalising a national definition for financial inclusion and digital financial services, which may be completed by June next year, Alam said at a programme on financial inclusion at Hotel Lakeshore in Dhaka.

“There's an opportunity for agent banking in Bangladesh as well.”

As part of Financial Inclusion Week, USAID's Mobile Solutions Technical Assistance and Research (mSTAR) project organised the programme on how to drive financial inclusion in Bangladesh through client-centred digital financial services.

This year, Financial Inclusion Week is being observed worldwide on October 17-23.

The programme -- Increasing the Uptake of Formal Financial Services through a Client-Centric Approach -- was jointly hosted in association with FHI 360.

More than 35 professionals, policymakers and experts participated in the event. Currently, 12 banks have agent banking in Bangladesh where 1,200 agents and more than three lakh clients are already getting services.

To go for a wide range of services, authentication must be ensured, Alam said. At the programme, several private banks presented their current status on agent banking and measures to ensure security.

By the end of June, the total number of registered MFS clients in Bangladesh stood at 3.62 crore and total transactions reached Tk 23,151.24 crore with average transaction at Tk 771.71 crore a day, according to Bangladesh Bank.

In the working sessions at the programme, representatives from different organisations presented case studies and tried to solve the challenges and find opportunities to connect the rural people.