Brac Bank strengthens remittance network

Shamsul Arefin, a Bangladeshi migrant worker of a construction firm in Penang, Malaysia, sent some money to Kishoreganj on the occasion of his sister's wedding.

However, Arefin said his family received the money only after the wedding was over. Thousands of Bangladeshi migrant workers like Arefin have had similar experiences while sending money back to Bangladesh.

As cross-border payments are always complex, involving multiple payment service providers such as exchange houses, banks, mobile wallets, etc., the process has to be ready to use at the individual level.

Brac Bank has built a network with the blend of local and foreign banks, exchange houses and agencies. The bank now has more than 65 partners from the Middle East to Southeast, Asia-Pacific to the US, UK to European countries and Africa.

Of them, Western Union, MoneyGram, Ria, and World Remit are the most popular. Non-resident Bangladeshi workers and migrant people in any corner of the world can send money easily through the Brac Bank network.

According to regulations, an individual cannot just send money through one of these operators. A bank in Bangladesh has to connect with a payment operator for disbursing the money.

N&P Japan Company Ltd is very popular among Bangladeshis living in Japan. However, they could not send remittance through the company as it did not have any bank as a partner back in Bangladesh. Brac Bank teamed up with this Japanese company and now all Bangladeshis in Japan can use its services to send money home where close to one lakh Bangladeshi expatriates are living.