BRAC Bank has launched the country鈥檚 first instant digital financing, Shafollo e-loan, for marginal small and medium enterprises.聽
Small traders, shopkeepers and grassroots entrepreneurs can now access up to Tk 50,000 in minutes, said a press release on Tuesday.
With special permission from the Bangladesh Bank, BRAC Bank designed the Shafollo e-loan model to bring formal credit directly to the fingertips of those who need it most.
Borrowers now only need their national identification card for the purpose, without having to visit a branch or deal with stacks of documents.
Repayment has also been made seamless as entrepreneurs can choose the channel most convenient to them 鈥� agent points, bKash, branches or sub-branches 鈥� and spread payments across six months in easy installments.聽
Over 5,000 loans have been rolled out nationwide, including Sherpur, Rangpur, Rajshahi, Mymensingh, Jamalpur, Satkhira districts and remote char communities, with further expansion underway.
The release said that traditionally, marginal SMEs, the backbone of Bangladesh鈥檚 economy, had been excluded from formal credit due to lengthy paperwork, complex agreements and weeks-long waiting barriers to access.
Besides, many SMEs had to depend on informal lenders at high costs that eroded their earnings, while for banks each loan required heavy manpower, costly manual processes and delays that further restricted outreach, it added.
