• Financial

Bank transactions in Corona have halved

  • Financial
  • 22 August, 2020 14:09:13

Photo: Collected

News Desk: Bank transactions in Corona have dropped by half. The stagnation of trade has had a major impact on transactions. Cash deposits and withdrawals at banks have declined. At the same time, transactions through ATM cards have decreased. At the same time, interbank transactions have also decreased. At the same time, transactions through agent banking have also declined.

Interbank transactions: Usually in the banking sector, when one bank runs out of money, it borrows from another bank. If a bank has surplus funds, it lends to short-term banks. Crisis banks spend money according to market demand to borrow. Thus the transaction between the banks themselves is called interbank transaction. According to Bangladesh Bank, interbank transactions averaged over Tk 6,500 crore in the two months before the launch of Corona; But last April it came down to four and a half thousand crore taka.

Decreased check transaction: Most of the customers including traders and contractors transact through checks. It is said that transactions through checks account for about 80 per cent of the total transactions in the banking sector. The checks are cashed through the clearing house. It would take at least three days in some cases five days to cash a check if it was given to a customer earlier; But now check transactions are done automatically. As a result, cashing is now available within a maximum of 12 hours of deposit. At present there are three types of transactions. First, transactions are done in an automated manner i.e. MICR checks, traditional methods and electronic fund transfer or EFT. Before the start of Corona, that is, in December, an average of 18 lakh 97 thousand 205 checks were transacted at a cost of 2 lakh 724 crore. And about 24 thousand non-MICR checks transacted 997 crore taka. There are almost similar transactions in January and February; But from March this transaction began to decline. As economic activity came to a near standstill due to the coronavirus, transactions through MICR checks fell from Tk 2 lakh crore to Tk 93,000 crore in April. In May, June and last July, the transaction has decreased further. But in the long three months i.e., April, May and June there are limited bank transactions. As a result, the transaction rate has further declined in the last three months, Bangladesh Bank sources said.

Decreasing Agent Banking Transactions: Over the past few years, agent banking has become popular in the economy. As the cost of running branches of banks is reduced, it has also made it easier to reach banking services in remote areas of the country. But the Corona effect has had a major negative impact on agent banking transactions. According to the statistics of Bangladesh Bank, the transaction through agent banking was Tk 16,000 crore in December, Tk 18,000 crore in January and Tk 20,223 crore in February. But since the outbreak of the coronavirus began in March, agent banking transactions have stumbled. In March it went down from Tk 20,000 crore to Tk 18,500 crore, in April it dropped to Tk 11,000 crore. The accounts for May, June, and July have not yet been finalized. However, in the last three months, the agent banking transactions have come down to a worse position.

Decreased ATM card transactions: Earlier, one had to go to the bank branches to deposit and withdraw money. But with the modernization of banking services, the customer no longer has to go to the bank branch for small transactions. Money is withdrawn and deposited from ATM booths through different types of ATM cards. At the same time, shopping is done through different types of credit cards. Corona's impact has also led to a collapse in these electronic transactions. According to the statistics of Bangladesh Bank, 1 crore 83 lakh 57 thousand 279 transactions were organized in ATM card last December. The transaction was 14 thousand 704 crore. In January, the transaction was 14 thousand 829 crore. The transaction in February was 14 thousand crore. But in April, the transaction went down to Tk 8,000 crore. Lower and middle class incomes have declined and various offices and courts have closed, leading to a collapse in ATM card transactions. Similarly, where Tk 1,657 crore was purchased through various credit cards last December, it has come down to Tk 454 crore in April.

Mobile banking transactions also collapsed: The impact of Corona has also led to a collapse in mobile banking transactions. Most cities, including the capital Dhaka, have lockdowns due to the outbreak of coronavirus. The level of this lockdown has increased since April. As a result, lower class, middle class and working people become unemployed. Due to the decrease in income, he could not send money to his family in the village. And the main means of sending money to this class of people was mobile banking. So the transaction through mobile banking also decreases. According to the statistics of Bangladesh Bank, the transaction through mobile banking in December was 40 thousand 647 crore taka. It had an average turnover of over Tk 42,000 crore till last February. But since the last week of March, the corona outbreak has also reduced people's mobile banking transactions. Last April, the transaction came down to Tk 29,000 crore. In May, June and July, it has come down to around Tk 10,000 crore, said the concerned source. According to bankers, bank transactions have also declined due to the decline in people's income due to the outbreak of coronavirus. As a result, the income of the bank has also decreased. As a result, banks are reducing operating costs. Some banks are cutting manpower. None is reducing the salary. Banks are trying to survive by reducing costs in this way. Bankers fear that the longer it lasts, the worse it will be for the country's economy.

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