There has been a big boom in agent banking in the country since 2018. It has opened up an array of opportunities for the people living in both rural and urban areas. Although, there are a few who have suffered a setback because of the pandemic, the benefits still outweigh the individual losses.
To begin with, banking activities were reduced to a great extent because of the outbreak and consequently customers had to suffer. As a result, once again banks are looking to implement new strategies to maximise the benefits offered by agent banking. And remittance inflow was the highest with the maximisation of agent banking. Remittance was at Tk 22,801 and through agent banking alone it was TK 15,534, as per a report published in this daily.
Rapid expansion of agent banking is creating a
lot of benefits for people who want to collect
remittance money in a safe way
Also, more and more banks are opening more and more agent banking outlets. This type of rapid expansion of agent banking is creating a lot of benefits for people who want to collect remittance money in a safe way. There were risks involved due to distance, but agent banking has reached homes of almost everyone.
This has also resulted in the loss of scope for Hundi rackets. Expatriate family members are able to withdraw remittances safely. However, recent numbers are still quite disconcerting. Around 40 per cent of remittances are sent to the country by expatriates through banking channels while 30 percent comes directly through expatriates or their relatives in the form of cash and the remaining 30 percent comes through hundi.
We applaud the banks who are providing agent banking services for the benefit of the people and country. At the same time, we believe it is imperative that irregular activities of Hundi be brought down along with those involved in
the business.