Bangladesh Bank has extended its deadline for submitting applications for establishing digital banks till November 2.
BB issued a notice on Monday, saying that applications with all relevant documents must be submitted to the Bangladesh Bank within November 2, 2025.
On August 26, BB invited applications from investors to establish the country鈥檚 first digital banks, with an aim of ensuring faster and more accessible financial services through a fully branchless model.
The timeline for application was between September 1 and September 30, 2025, which now has been extended by a month.
Applicants must submit proposals with a non-refundable processing fee of Tk 5 lakh. Failure to provide the required documents will lead to automatic cancellation, it said.
The central bank framed its digital bank guidelines on June 14, 2023, and recently revised them to strengthen capital and operational requirements.
The minimum paid-up capital has been raised to Tk 300 crore from Tk 125 crore earlier.
Digital banks must also launch an initial public offering (IPO) within five years of licensing, with the IPO size not less than the sponsors鈥� initial capital.
According to the guidelines, a digital bank will operate entirely online with only a head office, requiring no physical branches, sub-branches, ATMs, or cash-deposit machines.
All services will be app-based and delivered through mobile phones and other digital devices.
While structurally different from traditional banks, digital banks must comply with the same business, governance, and operational standards.
The central bank previously invited applications in 2023 and approved Nagad as a digital bank, though the licence was later cancelled following the fall of the Awami League government in August 2024.
Currently, 61 scheduled commercial banks and 35 non-bank financial institutions (NBFIs) operate in Bangladesh, with many already offering digital banking services.