The coronavirus pandemic has taken a toll on female employment rate in Bangladesh’s banking sector, causing it to fall alarmingly in the first half of this year.

Mobile financial service provider bKash recently organised workshops with select “Star” agents from around the country to train them on risk management and professional skills development in the financial sector. 

Bangladesh Bank yesterday relaxed rules over its Tk 3,000 crore stimulus package dedicated for low-income professionals, marginal farmers and micro-enterprises.

City  Bank Ltd reported consolidated profits of Tk 316.5 crore for the  January-September period of 2021, a 2.56 per cent rise from the same  period last year.

UK-based finance institution CDC Group has committed a $30 million trade finance loan to Prime Bank Limited.

The central bank has intensified its efforts to keep the exchange rate of the local currency stable in the face of rising demand for US dollars.

Three private banks yesterday said their profits soared in the first nine months of the current year powered by increased business.

Brac EPL Stock Brokerage Ltd has signed a tri-party agreement with Magnus Corporation Ltd and DirectFN over an order management system at its Dhaka office recently. 

HSBC has launched a student work placement programme to provide final year university students and fresh graduates a paid opportunity at learning more about a career in banking and financial services. 

Bangladesh has seen a gradual expansion of Islamic banking over the past three and a half decades.

Lenders are failing to implement the second phase of the stimulus package for the CMSME sector as clients struggle to repay the loans secured under the first round.

The Anti-Corruption Commission has filed a case against former chairman of South Bangla Agriculture and Commerce Bank SM Amzad Hossain and six others for allegedly misappropriating Tk 20.6 crore from the private lender.

The breakneck pace of innovation disrupting the financial sector has ushered in a level of uncertainty which the sector has not faced before. New entrants and a rapidly changing business model have provided customers with a multiplicity of options.

Thengamara Mohila Sabuj Sangha (TMSS) recently signed an agreement with bKash enabling its members to both receive microfinance loans and pay monthly instalments through the mobile financial service provider. 

The Bangladesh Bank yesterday set uniform rates on settling transactions through digital platforms of banks and other financial service providers as part of its effort to facilitate clients and merchants.

In a rare move, the government is not rushing into a $3-billion loan offer from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as Bangladesh has received a huge amount of budget support from multilateral lenders to fight the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic.

HSBC Bank Bangladesh has recently organised an International Customer Service Week 2021. 

The City Bank Limited recently won a “Leading Partner Bank Award” partnering with Asian Development Bank (ADB) in Bangladesh from July 1, 2020 to June 30, 2021. 

Transactions through mobile financial services in Bangladesh grew more than 50 per cent year-on-year to Tk 62,230 crore in August, central bank data showed.

State banks in Bangladesh are maintaining an elevated level of loan concentration among a handful of clients, putting their own financial health and the interest of depositors at grave risk.