Home ›› 19 May 2023 ›› Front
Internet banking activities have increased very quickly in the past two years with lockdowns and restrictions on movement changing the way people work, shop and handle their personal financial activities amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
Also known as online or virtual banking, this is an electronic payment system that enables clients of a bank or financial institution to conduct a range of transactions through the bank’s website or mobile apps.
Internet banking transactions stood at Tk 33,557 crore at the end of March this year, up by three times from Tk 10,371 crore in the same month of 2021, according to the latest Bangladesh Bank data.
Data showed e-banking transactions were only at Tk 6,588 crore in March 2020, when the country had identified its first Covid patients and that led the government to impose the lockdowns.
Most of the banks had to introduce mobile banking apps, WhatsApp banking and online account-opening platforms in a hurry when the first wave of the pandemic started getting worse and lockdowns forced people to stay at home, industry insiders said.
Since then, the lenders have been increasing investment in internet banking, establishing smart ATMs such as cash deposit machines (CDM), and cash recycling machines (CRM), and expanding their agent banking and mobile financial services, they said.
BRAC Bank Managing Director (MD) Selim RF Hussain said his bank had started to invest in digital banking even before Covid struck but the pandemic situation only increased the importance of digital banking.
He said BRAC Bank’s digital banking transactions rose rapidly amid the pandemic but they are still growing as people now prefer these facilities.
Selim added that the development of digital banking that was supposed to happen in the next four-five years has already been done amid Covid.
Social Islami Bank MD and CEO Zafar Alam said that his bank started internet banking operations in
July of last year and during this time, 8,000 accounts have been opened virtually.
“We are getting a huge response in internet banking from the customers. Covid proved that banks should take more initiatives for digitalisation to make a cashless society,” he said.
Dhaka Bank also introduced its mobile banking app “DBL GO” and a few tech-based products for its small and medium enterprise customers as well during the pandemic, its MD Emranul Haq said.
“We were the first to introduce WhatsApp Banking,” he said, adding that the internet banking form is becoming popular fast as clients are getting better benefits from it.
Now clients can check their deposit balance, view e-statements and other electronic documents and can pay bills easily as well using their smartphones. These facilities have significantly boosted the use of internet banking among customers, he added.
