Sonali, the country's largest commercial bank, has teamed up with Western Union, a global money-transfer service network, to regain its top position in remittance business.
Both the parties announced an agreement in this regard at Dhaka Sheraton hotel yesterday.
“Remittance beneficiaries across the country will be able to get the money within a few minutes,” said Ratheesh Kumar, regional vice president of Western Union, after the deal.
He said the money-transfer network has signed the deal with Sonali as a part of its plan to increase its services in Bangladesh.
“We are quite strong in Dhaka and Chittagong. Now we will move forward to Sylhet, Barisal, Khulna and Rajshahi,” said Kumar, expecting that the pact with Sonali would help them reach the every corner of Bangladesh.
Initially, Sonali Bank will provide the services through its 200 branches and is expected to extend the services through its entire 1,100 plus branches by next year.
Bangladesh fetched nearly $9.7 billion in remittances in fiscal 2008-09 and targets to cross $10 billion mark this year, according to the Bangladesh Bank, the country's central bank.
Sonali Bank was in the top position in remittance business until 2007 with over $1 billion. But Islami Bank, a private bank, defeated Sonali in 2008.
SA Chowdhury, chief executive officer of Sonali Bank, is upbeat about regaining its top position soon.
But he said: “It won't be possible to regain the number one position without improving the service quality.”
Sonali has a target to handle remittance inflow worth $1.26 billion this year, Chowdhury said.
“I hope the tie-up will help the bank regain its top position,” said the bank's top executive.
With the agreement, Sonali Bank becomes Western Union's 15th principal agent in Bangladesh.
Presently, Western Union has presence in 5,000 locations across the country and it has a plan to add another 1,500 locations by next year, according to Kumar.
Replying to a query, he said Western Union alone deals with nearly 18 percent of the global remittances worth $250 billion. But he failed to say its market share in Bangladesh.