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Microlenders to go for mobile banking to cut costs

Gazi Towhid Ahmed
Microlenders plan to use mobile banking to disburse funds and reduce the cost of operations.
Through mobile banking accounts, lenders will sanction funds and borrowers will be able to repay instalments, said Abul Kashem Md Shirin, deputy managing director of Dutch-Bangla Bank Ltd.
In rural areas, instalment collectors face risks as they have to move around with cash. But cash collection will soon stop, he added.
The new system will ensure loan disbursement to the real borrowers and reduce the costs of disbursement, he said.
"It will truly be an online system where members of NGOs can enjoy the service from any branch in the country."
The rate of interest on the loans may also be reduced as the new system will be cost-efficient, Shirin said. It will also attract new customers as it will have flexible repayment options and better services, he added.
To launch the system, integration is required between the lender's central server and the bank's mobile banking server.
Shirin suggested developing a central system, where all branches of NGOs will be connected.
After the loan money is sanctioned, NGOs and MFIs (microfinance institutes) will notify its banks with borrowers' details, like names and mobile account numbers, said Prajna Paramita Saha, deputy director of Bangladesh Bank.
The bank will credit the loan to the respective borrower's mobile account, she added.
The new mobile-based banking system is like 3G, said M Aslam Alam, secretary' to the bank and financial institution division under the finance ministry.
It will ensure the best services to its clients at low costs and in a short time, Alam added.
NGOs will be able to serve greater unbanked populations in rural areas, said Khandakar Muzharul Haque, executive vice chairman of Microcredit Regulatory Authority (MRA).
The MRA is the central body to monitor and supervise the microfinance operations of NGOs and micro finance institutes. A total of 725 NGOs and MFIs have registered with MRA.
The number of mobile banking subscribers has crossed the one-crore mark, thanks to rapid expansion of the financial outlets of commercial banks.
The number of mobile banking accounts has nearly doubled to 1.24 crore in seven months from 50 lakh in April, according to Bangladesh Bank.
As part of the government's financial inclusion programme, the central bank has allowed 27 banks to provide mobile-banking; to date, 19 have launched the sendee.
Hsing a mobile phone and without having to visit a bank branch, a customer can transfer money, receive salaries or pay bills from their accounts through mobile banking. The central bank has allowed mobile banking systems to provide almost all services from disbursement of inward remittances to cash in and out, person to business payments, business to person payments, person to gov-ernment payments, government to person payments and person to person payments.
Customers are also allowed to make some other payments, such as microfinance, overdrawn facility, insurance premiums and deposit schemes.