Staff Reporter :
Loan disbursement through agent banking outlets increased by 14.42 per cent year-on-year in the April-June period in 2024 compared to the same period of the previous year of 2023.
According to the data from Bangladesh Bank (BB), Tk 9,150 crore loan disbursed through agent banking during April-June which was Tk 7,997 crore in the corresponding period last year.
Earlier, at the end of March this year it was Tk 8,872 crore.
Some 31 banks comprising two state-owned banks, 21 private commercial banks and 8 Islamic banks are operating agent banking services across the country.
Brac Bank, City Bank, Bank Asia , Islami Bank are the leading agent banks having top share of lending through this channel.
As of June 2024, rural customers received Tk 6,575 crore loans disbursed through the agent banking channel, which was very much in line with the objective of the agent banking to enhance the rural people’s access to finance.
Likewise, deposits through agent banking have seen growths of 22 percent year-on-year in the April-June period of 2024.
According to Bangladesh Bank data, deposits’ balance in agent banking outlets increased to Tk 39,813 crore in April-June in 2024 from that of Tk 32,542 crore in the same period in 2023.
Additionally, remittance collection through agents also increased in the reporting period.
At the end of June 2024, Tk 1.16 lakh crore in remittance was disbursed through agent banking.
According to the central bank data, the number of accounts opened through agent banking reached more 2.3 crore at the end of July this year.
Of which 1.11crore accounts belong to female customers, and the rest belong to males.
In addition, 1.98 crore accounts belong to customers in the rural areas.
At the end of June this year, the number of women using agent banks for deposits and loans saw growths of 16.58 percent and 17.31 percent respectively over the past year.
Of them, the top five banks registered more than 73 per cent of the total outlets.
As of June 2024, there were 21,473 outlets managed by 15,991 agents, where the top five banks registered more than 73 per cent of the total outlets.