Standard morphing into Shariah-based bank

Standard Bank will suspend operations for four days to make a transition from traditional core banking solutions to Islamic ones.

The lender will stop its banking transactions ranging from Bangladesh Automated Clearing House (BATCH) and Bangladesh Electronic Fund Transfer Network (BEFTN) to digital banking and Real-Time Gross Settlement (RTGS).

The services will be paused from 6pm on December 30 to 10pm on January 4, according to a central bank notice.

Banks settle inter-bank cheques through the BATCH while conducting inter-bank financial transactions, of both small and large scale, through the BEFTN and the RTGS respectively.

Earlier this year, the central bank gave its approval to the bank's intent to make the conversion to a shariah-based lender from a conventional one.

This takes the tally of Islamic lenders in Bangladesh to 11.