BSS, Dhaka :
Bangladesh made significant progress in financial inclusion in the recent years, with bringing in 60 percent of adult population under basic financial services, Bangladesh Bank (BB) Governor Dr Atiur Rahman said.
Moreover, the coverage of basic financial services from banks and other financial services are now expanding rapidly with introduction of mobile financial services and agent banking, he said.
The governor was speaking on financial inclusion and combating terror financing at the 7th Annual G24/AFI Policymakers Roundtable on Financial Inclusion, held at the IMF headquarters in Washington DC on Wednesday, said a BB press release issued here today (Thursday).
Commenting on the initiative of combating money laundering and terror financing, Dr Rahman said like other countries remittance inflow to Bangladesh is allowed only through official channels under full CDD (Customer Due Diligence) and AML/CTF (anti-money laundering/counter terrorism financing) surveillance.
The governor, however, expressed concern that disproportionate application of standards might drive away the customers to more informal and opaque channel, which might be counterproductive to AML/CTF compliance.
Referring to the de-risking banking sector in some advanced economies by closing down accounts of remittance intermediaries, he said such action was greatly limiting the overall progress of financial inclusion activities.
He advised that the risks of money laundering and terror financing could be further minimized by establishing effective linkage of the surveillance chain at the remittance origination and delivery end.
Bangladesh made significant progress in financial inclusion in the recent years, with bringing in 60 percent of adult population under basic financial services, Bangladesh Bank (BB) Governor Dr Atiur Rahman said.
Moreover, the coverage of basic financial services from banks and other financial services are now expanding rapidly with introduction of mobile financial services and agent banking, he said.
The governor was speaking on financial inclusion and combating terror financing at the 7th Annual G24/AFI Policymakers Roundtable on Financial Inclusion, held at the IMF headquarters in Washington DC on Wednesday, said a BB press release issued here today (Thursday).
Commenting on the initiative of combating money laundering and terror financing, Dr Rahman said like other countries remittance inflow to Bangladesh is allowed only through official channels under full CDD (Customer Due Diligence) and AML/CTF (anti-money laundering/counter terrorism financing) surveillance.
The governor, however, expressed concern that disproportionate application of standards might drive away the customers to more informal and opaque channel, which might be counterproductive to AML/CTF compliance.
Referring to the de-risking banking sector in some advanced economies by closing down accounts of remittance intermediaries, he said such action was greatly limiting the overall progress of financial inclusion activities.
He advised that the risks of money laundering and terror financing could be further minimized by establishing effective linkage of the surveillance chain at the remittance origination and delivery end.
