Lending and deposit collection through banks鈥� agent banking outlets advanced in October-December period of 2024 compared with that in the same period of the previous year.
The outlets disbursed Tk 24,028 crore in October-December, 2024 against their disbursement of Tk 15,407 crore in the same period of 2023, according to a Bangladesh Bank report titled 鈥楺uarterly Report On Agent Banking October-December, 2024.鈥�
The outlets received Tk 41,955 crore in deposits in the October-December quarter compared with those of Tk 36,358 crore in the same period of the preceding year.
The volume of deposits in the agent banking accounts has increased by 6.14 per cent and the volume of lending through these accounts has increased by 13.93 per cent over the previous quarter.
The loan-to-deposit ratio stands at 57.27 per cent in the reporting quarter which was 53.35 per cent in the previous quarter.
The steady growth of lending-to-deposit ratio hints at the positive growth of loan disbursement through agent banking, the BB report said.
The reason behind this is most banks are showing interest in developing feasible infrastructures for loan disbursement and recovery through agent outlets. Currently, 23 out of 31 banks are involved in lending through agent banking. The trend of banks鈥� engagement in lending seems promising as more banks are coming forward to take part in lending in this quarter compared to the previous quarter, according to the BB report.
Since access to finance is one of the key challenges of financial inclusion, lending through agent banking is explicitly beneficial for rural customers in developing countries, the BB said in its quarterly report.
As of December 2024, the lending through agent banking rose to Tk 24,028.31 crore. The volume of the total loan has increased by 13.93 per cent over the previous quarter indicating that the lending through agent banking is getting momentum, it said.
According to the central bank data, the number of deposit accounts through agent banking was 2.4 crore as of December 2024.
Accounts opened by female customers constitute 49.77 per cent of the total.
The highest number of accounts and the highest amount of balance were in the form of savings.
Remittance collection through agents also increased in the reporting month.
At the end of December 2024, the amount of inward remittances through agent banking rose to Tk 1,73,390 crore, which was Tk 1,43,113 crore in December 2023.
Agent banking is an alternative way to provide banking services to underprivileged population in the rural areas, especially to those who live in remote regions.
The Bangladesh Bank introduced agent banking in 2013.
Compared with the traditional banking system, it is a less costly system where customers are able to receive various banking services on a real-time basis from the platform through an agent, the BB in a report said.
Thirty-one banks offered agent banking services through 21,248 outlets operated by 16,021 agents as on December 30, 2024.
Of them, the top five banks have established 72.53 per cent of the total agent outlets.
The top five banks have carried out 94.92 per cent of the total lending through agent banking till December2024.
BRAC Bank PLC has ranked the top with the largest volume of lending amounting to Tk 16,152.38 crore, which is 67.22 per cent of the total loans disbursed through agent banking.
The total number of agent banking outlets soared to 21,448 in September 2023 from 20,177 in the same month in the previous year.
