Business Desk :
Md Shahnawaz, who lives in remote village Motiganj under the Sonagazi Upazila of Feni district, fell into difficulties when his Oman expatriate friend asked him to send Taka 1,15,000 at the earliest. He, however, could send the money within a short time and at a low cost thanks to the Union Digital Centre (UDC) that provides the agent banking service in the remote localities of the country.
“Covid-19 pandemic made it very risky and troublesome for me to go to the district town, about 20km away from my village, to send the money through Bank Asia. I was able to send the money with the help of Motiganj Union Digital Centre that provides agent banking services of Bank Asia,” said Shahnawaz.
Md Saleh Uddin Faisal, the entrepreneur of the centre, did the job of sending money easily within a short time through the centre’s agent banking system, reports BSS.
Shahnawaz could not even think that he would be able to send the money so easily. Like him, many people of the union are now availing of the agent banking services through Union Digital Centres of the government.
“Agent banking is gradually gaining popularity among the villagers of remote unions as they are receiving all sorts of banking services easily,” said Motiganj Union Digital Centre entrepreneur Md Saleh Uddin Faisal.
Faisal said he is providing all banking services to the villagers and now around two to three lakh Taka is transacted daily through his centre.
Talking to BSS, National Consultant for the Digital Access & Financial Services of a2i Iqbal Hossain Sohel said agent banking under digital centre network is increasingly becoming the key point for rural economy as the marginal people are getting involved in the mainstream of banking activities.
He said deposit mobilization has received momentum and the remitters are now also opting for the platform largely as the beneficiaries can withdraw funds without visiting any bank branch.
As of July 2021, he said, marginalised people are getting used to taking banking services from a total of 4,470 digital centres across the country.
Till July 2021, he said, the total amount of deposit collection stood at Taka 13.7 billion while agent outlets disbursed Taka 19.6 billion in remittance.
