Banking from the comfort of one's home

Abdur Rob Patwary, a retired government employee, has never imagined that one day he would be able to pay utility bills from  home.

No matter where he is, his bills are paid in time. Not only that, it hardly takes any time: just a few clicks and it is done, be it electricity or gas bills.

Parveen Akhter, a low-wage employee of a semi-government organisation, had to go to a bank every month to deposit Tk 1,000 to her savings scheme.

Just three years ago, she had to wait for an hour every time to deposit the money. Now, she maintains two savings schemes and deposits the money from her home or office.

Patwary or Akhter's cases are not isolated as internet banking has made the lives of many much easier over the last few years. Bangladesh Bank data also shows how fast the internet as a delivery channel in the banking sector is gaining popularity.

Banks attributed the surge to the permission granted to third party transactions and the ease of access to the internet, particularly after the rollout of third generation or 3G mobile networks.

The number of internet banking customers has increased more than 74 percent year-on-year to 20.91 lakh in the nine months till March of the just concluded fiscal year.

Interestingly, the eight state-owned banks are yet to introduce this technology-driven banking convenience for their customers.

It is convenient for customers and cost-effective for banks, said Ahmed Kamal Khan Chowdhury, managing director of Prime Bank.

Chowdhury said banking through the internet has helped them achieve higher efficiency, control of operations and cost reduction due to replacement of paper-based and labour-intensive methods with automated processes.

Internet banking is a service that allows customers to access their banking information, conduct financial transactions, make deposits, withdrawals and pay bills through the platform -- without having to physically visit a branch.

Services through the internet are also called self-service channels, as it allows customers to enjoy banking facilities from their homes or offices without any intervention of banking staff.

Internet banking is relatively a new concept in Bangladesh. Very few banks offered off-line internet banking services, such as viewing the balance till 2005. After that, it got a jump when banks rushed to introduce core banking software, in which internet banking option was a built-in facility.

Yet, this technology-driven service failed to gather any momentum until the BB allowed third-party transactions through the internet in 2009-10.

"Internet banking gained momentum since then. But the channel has been geared up with the launch of 3G services in 2013," said Abul Kashem Mohammad Shirin, deputy managing director of Dutch-Bangla Bank.

Now, 30 of the 39 private banks and all nine foreign banks offer internet banking options. Dutch-Bangla is a pioneer when it comes to introducing this type of technology-driven services. It has the largest automated teller machines (ATM) network in Bangladesh.

Of the 20.91 lakh internet banking customers, private commercial banks have more than 19.55 lakh and foreign commercial banks nearly 1.38 lakh. Of those, Dutch-Bangla alone has about five lakh customers.

BB data shows customers transacted nearly Tk 5,000 crore through internet banking in the first nine months of fiscal 2014-15, up from Tk 4,600 crore a year ago.

Bankers said if the central bank allows transactions outside Bangladesh, the channel will get further momentum. Increasing investments in security measures, both software and hardware, is helping internet banking get popularity, Shirin said.

According to him, there is no restriction from the central bank on fund transactions, but banks have imposed self-restrictions for their own safety. Banks have set the maximum fund transaction limit of Tk 5 lakh per day for a customer. Every customer of a bank is entitled to the internet banking facility.

"It's a free service and any of our customers can get the facility by setting up his/her account online," said Bitopi Das Chowdhury, head of corporate affairs of Standard Chartered Bangladesh.