Financial inclusion (Bangladeshi perspective)
Financial inclusion or inclusive financing is the delivery of financial services at affordable costs to sections of disadvantaged and low-income segments of society. The term "financial inclusion" has gained importance since the early 2000s, a result of findings about financial exclusion and its direct correlation to poverty.
BANGLADESH has made a broad social commitment for inclusive, equitable and environmentally sustainable socioeconomic growth 'leaving no-one behind', as espoused in the new sustainable development goals. The government has accordingly led proactively with the country's progress in sustainable development, with policy thrusts on massive digitization to support financial inclusion and inclusive growth. Bangladesh Bank, the country's central bank, is supporting the government's efforts with its own initiatives by promoting financial inclusion and environmentally sustainable financing.
Some of the inclusive financial products are -
Ten-taka (12 cents) bank accounts for millions of farmers and social safety net beneficiaries (The central bank approved a Tk 200 crore refinancing scheme to provide loans to Tk 10 account holders . As of September this year, the number of Tk 10 account holders—who are mostly farmers, garment workers, city corporation cleaning workers, freedom fighters and social safety net beneficiaries—stood at around 1.87 crore. )
Bank-led mobile banking (Mobile banking in Bangladesh continues to grow fast, scaling a new height last year with 53 percent growth year-on-year.
In 2015, the industry saw Tk 157,773.31 crore in transactions through mobile phones -- the amount being more than half the country's national budget, according to a report of Bangladesh Bank. In 2014, the mobile banking industry saw Tk 103,155.37 crore in transactions. The average monthly transactions made through mobile phones stood at more than Tk 13,147.77 crore last year, rising from Tk 8,596.28 crore in 2014.)
School banking (at the end of December last year, there were 133,000 accounts in 45 banks with a total deposit of Tk 9,605 million. The number of such accounts rose to 224,719 in 46 banks until June this year, showing a deposit of Tk 1.28 billion. Currently, the average savings in these accounts work out to about Tk 5,716. )
SME loans for women entrepreneurs (The central bank has launched target-based credit activities for banks. Between 2010 and 2015, about 18.35 lakh SMEs got loans to the tune of BDT 262,340 crore. Loans of nearly BDT 100,000 crore are going to SMEs every year. BB has launched a number of refinancing schemes involving BDT 2,100 crore from its own fund as well as funds from development partners. )
