Banking through agents rose significantly in the July-September quarter of 2021, with both deposits and advances growing.
According to the latest data of Bangladesh Bank, the deposit through agent banking has increased by 9.24 percent since June 2021 quarter. Earlier, at the end of June quarter this year, the total deposit amount was Tk 20,379 28 crore.
The total amount of deposit stood at Tk 22,26,155.59 crore at the end of September quarter while it was Tk 13,04,061.72 crore in September 2020.
Besides, the amount of loans disbursed through agents saw a 25.46 percent raise in September quarter of 2021 raising the amount to Tk 3,99,757.02 crore. It was Tk 1,08,695.84 crore in September 2020.
At the end of the June quarter 2021 the remittances collection was Tk 6795,404.46 crore. At the end of the September quarter 2021 the total amount of remittance stood at Tk 74,82,585.51 crore or 10.11 percent. Which was Tk 38,33,524.40 crore in September 2020,
According to the central bank data, the growth of agent banking in the country from September last year to September this year has surpassed the record. As of September 2020, there were 10,163 agents of 24 banks in the country. With the introduction of five more bank agent banking, a total of 29 have been introduced by the end of September this year. The number of agents of banks stands at 13,470 or 32.54% percent in one year of the pandemic period.
At the same time, the number of outlets has increased at 28.97 percent in the last one year. At the end of September 2020, the number of agent outlets was 14,016. At the end of September this year, the number of outlets stood at 18,077.
As of September 2020, the number of bank accounts opened through agent banking was 82,21,893. At the end of September this year, the amount of bank accounts opened through agents stood at 1,29,11,541.
Sirajul Islam Executive Director & spooks person of Bangladesh Bank told The News Times that Agent banking is becoming popular day by day. Especially during the pandemic, people have done more transactions through agent banking.
He also said actually the main purpose of agent banking is to make it easier for people to transact. Through agent banking people can easily deposit money and take loans. So people in remote areas are now opening accounts with the nearest agents. We hope that agent banking will increase day by day.
