In bid to identify the borrowers, the central bank has taken a number of special initiatives including the provision of adding borrower identification number (BIN) of a loan-taker while availing of bank loan. Under the initiative, a BIN would be added against the name of a borrower, a central bank official said.
Besides empowering CIB, the initiative would surely reduce loan scams lessening the number of borrowers taking loan in fake or others’ names.
Against a BIN, there will be the name and address, description of company and other related information of a person, said Bangladesh Bank officials. Sources said work is going on to set up a separate CIB for micro-credit borrowers. Once it is completed, information of all micro-credit borrowers would be brought under this secondary CIB which would be connected to the central bank’s CIB. With this, all borrowers would be included under BIN one by one.
In this regard, a senior BB official said once the initiative is implemented, it would help reducing the incidence of loan scams drastically. Khandaker Ibrahim Khalid, former deputy governor of the central bank, told the media, ‘‘The initiative was taken long ago, but could not be implemented due to the opposition of different sections of people.’’
‘‘It would help reduce the loan scams as well as provide information of all borrowers at hand. It would help all the stakeholders,’’ he added. According to BB information, at present commercial banks and financial institutions are central bank’s CIB members. All the banks and financial institutions have their own CIB also containing all the information of all the clients.
According to sources, the central bank has already discussed the issue with CIB chiefs of all banks and financial institutions. They have responded positively also. Information technology department of the central bank is also being contacted over technical issues of the initiative. If we get positive response from all stakeholders, a BIN would be added before all the names of central bank’s CIB. It will ensure availability of information of all the borrowers.
Once BIN is introduced, information of a loan seeker would be available against the BIN he provides at a second bank, after taking loan at another bank.
‘‘If one takes loan under a fake name, a BIN would be added too. So, if you investigate through the number it would be easy to probe a scam,’’ said a senior BB official on anonymity.
He also said manpower of CIB, however, has to be increased to ensure the service. And a separate research unit for CIB has to be formed also. Mentionable, at present tax identification number (TIN) and vat identification number (VIN) have been introduced to identify the tax and Vat payers respectively. At present, to take new loan, to participate in local or national polls, to become director of any bank or financial institution, one has to collect and submit the CIB report of the central bank. It states whether the related person is a loan defaulter.
