BM Desk : Agent banking is becoming more and more popular in the nation every day. With banking amenities at their fingertips, residents no longer need to travel to the district or upazila city to deposit or withdraw money. Additionally, bank branches and agents offer services related to expatriate income and loan disbursement.
According to Bangladesh Bank’s most recent report, deposits rose by 2,642.36 million taka during the June quarter of this year, despite a decline in the number of agents and outlets. Deposits totaled 42,963.36 million Taka at the end of March and 45,605.72 million Taka at the end of June.
Regarding the report, there were 2,46.71 million, 422 account holders in agent banking as of the end of March 2025. At 2,46.71 million, 422. By the end of June, this number decreased to 2,44.66 million, indicating a reduction of 2,65,186 accounts over three months.
Additionally, there has been an increase in loan disbursement. The loan disbursement balance at the end of March was Tk 26,637 crore, which rose to Tk 29,083.1 crore by the end of June—an increase of Tk 2,371.31 crore.
Expatriate income also saw a rise of Tk 2,684 crore. Expatriate income through agent banking was Tk 1,81,204 crore at the end of March, which increased to Tk 1,83,888 crore by the end of June.
The report indicates that a significant portion of agent banking customers are from rural regions. Currently, the number of rural customers stands at 27,64,311, with 12,78,966 of them being female customers.
However, there has been a decline in the number of agents and outlets during this period. The count of agents was 15,838 at the end of March, which decreased to 15,373 by the end of June—a drop of 465 in three months. Concurrently, the number of outlets fell by 466, from 21,023 in March to 20,557 in June.
A representative from Bangladesh Bank stated, “The primary goal of introducing agent banking was to provide banking services to individuals in remote areas, which has now gained significant popularity throughout the country.”
