Page 49 - ICE BUSINESS TIMES March 2020

four months of the fiscal year. Efforts being able to lend? Hopefully not. still in a nascent stage.
are being made to reduce the interest The concerns around the liquidity What is your take on that?
rate to a single digit to augment crisis have started to fade away
domestic investment. But if the already. We have seen certain As a whole, I do not think we have
come to the state where we should
Government keeps on borrowing at situations unfolding last year but
this rate then there could be a 2020 brings in a breath of fresh air be. MFS is basically being used as a
payment platform, anything more
crowding effect, which is a little and we have reasons to be hopeful
concerning, and banks will not be about it. Look at the credit growth than that has not yet been done. I
terms of understanding customers’ able to meet demand for loans, rate of PCBs; it is coming down think for the changes to take place, it
overall lifestyle, and then accordingly thereby the ultimate objective of already. In the last six months, it has will take some time. The number of
come back with a product. I do not single digit, pushing credit growth, reduced to the point of single digit. It brilliant people in the market,
want it to be supply-driven, it should may not be achieved. is basically because of the lower especially from the young genera-
rather be demand-driven. So under- There is another side of the coin. demand for loans not because of tion, have creative and innovative
standing the customer with better Think about the senior citizens who liquidity scenario. ideas. And a lot of startups are
you release a job posting, many turn analytics and coming up with significant role. For example, in some keep their money in banks in the coming up. The problem with
up for interviews. But if I go slightly tailor-made products are my current countries the corporations are the form of fixed deposits. For these You already mentioned startups is that, there are not many
higher, to perhaps one or two levels, aspirations with MTB. agents, but here, we are still relying people, who have no other earnings, that there are 59 banks, people who can fund those. We do
then I find the candidates to be not on individuals like you and me. the real income will go down. There not have venture capital or angel
so satisfactory. Since in a bank we What is your take on the could be a likelihood that people may making it an overheated investors, which, again is putting the
deal with people’s money, we need to current situation of agent For the overall banking take money out of the banks and market. Will adding onus on the bankers. Commercial
have people who are better than the sector, how do you think invest in properties, buying gold and more banks be a boon or banks are less eager to fund a
average industry standards. Like banking? You were saying other things. A lot could happen. We bane? startup because they often factor in
others, MTB provides training to there are certain trust can be brought might see money coming out of the the success rate and the stats there
groom new and old recruits. But are challenges associated with back? formal sector also. I am not sure, but A/ In any case, I am just a citizen. I are not very rosy. Besides, managing
those enough to enable our work- it. How do you look at it? I do not think trust is an issue. If this is a hunch, nevertheless, the am not privy to many things that are startups is a different ball game, it is
happening in the government, or
not the same as managing a
tion (USP), you will not prosper. force to combat the challenges of the In the case of agent banking, since there are any such issues, you would concern cannot be ruled out totally. what is on their mind. I do not have commercial or a corporate outlet. For
Since MTB is not a leader in the 4th Industrial Revolution? Time has its inception, we have not seen any have seen run on in the bank, which Nevertheless, I strongly believe the any insight on the basis of making that, we also need that experience on
banking industry, we need to have come to flag the topic and take fraud. Agent banking is basically has not happened. Perhaps, in cases policymakers know what is good for such a decision. I am hearing that 2 how to handle an emerging enter-
something which will help us in measures accordingly. banking managed by a third party. of one or two banks, you have seen the country. more banks might get license. So prise. That could be one of the
terms of leapfrogging. That is significant demography of the My bank’s logo and brand image are unwanted situations unfolding. they may have a different under- reasons why we are not seeing too
Congratulations on basically my mid-term goal. We need population and add a new momen- If we look back, you are used, but there’s always a risk. Otherwise, if you look at the entire There is a common standing or insight, which I do not
joining MTB! What are to see the results as well. We also tum in our journey. renowned for ushering Another thing is, with agent banking banking industry we have not seen perception that banks do have as an outsider. Having said many Fintech companies coming into
the market. One concerning issue is
your short-term and need to make the entire process very in a new era in Dhaka we have more than 6000 crore taka degradation. That is because of the not have money, that is that, as a practitioner, I think that 59 the lack of data mining. I mean one
prevailing trust. This might sound
long-term goals for efficient because our costing What is your take on the Bank with the Go app. plus, through all the outlets. There is cynical but yes, people are talking why there is no itself is a very big number. Because if of the key features of Fintech is
percentage which is around 52%, is
MTB? And how do you very high in terms of the industry. condition of skilled Do you have any such criticism that we are mobilising about banks in Bangladesh; except investment in the you look at the banking GDP, the analytics, which is not readily
deposits from rural areas and
want to achieve those? We have to be leaner as well. Adding manpower in the digital aspiration for investing in urban areas. This is true for the bankers, everyone else is an domestic front. What is figures stand around 270/280 billion available here. Even in the case of
USD. In comparison to the number of
banks, data is not properly stored,
There are a few goals. To start with, to that, we aim to reach out to the banking industry? MTB? to some extent. But you will see that expert on banking. your take on that? banks, that is not a happy number to let alone using them for further
I am putting importance on the remotest possible areas to provide I must say that it is a very concern- banks have already started extending There was no liquidity crisis as such, boast about. So as an individual, usage. We should look into these
Human Resources as they are the solutions to the unbanked popula- ing area. For any institute to Simply put, we need to improve the loans in the rural areas. It takes time if you look at the AD ratio, overall I It is not true that banks do not have having 32 years of banking experi- issues before we expect startups to
customer experience. We are looking
ones who will implement the tion via our agent banking. We are succeed, two kinds of capitals are to understand the market and risks think it is about 77. Therefore, money. Have you heard anything in ence, my humble suggestions would emerge and succeed.
changes that are required by the also setting up a number of Sub needed. One is the financial capital, at banking made easy in a digital involved, and then you can lend. I instead of liquidity, it is more of a the recent past that banks are not be to add no more banks.
way; starting from opening accounts
bank and deliver the services. We Branches, which I think is a very which may not be hard to mobilize. am sure very soon you will see loans distribution issue.
have to work as a team. So, that is good initiative, thanks to our The other one, human capital, to daily transactions to processing of in the rural area will increase. At the We have seen the rise of Can you tell us what is
loan applications – the aim is to
the first thing I am trying to fix, by Central Bank, which can help us in requires time to build and the end of the day, we need to ensure What about revising the your vision for MTB in
identifying resources within the terms of mobilizing the projects from process is very difficult. If you look improve the overall response time. that the money we are taking will be recent monetary policy MFS – it is going good. the Year 2020?
We have plans to launch an app
bank, and according to the a rural area or suburban area. If we at our educational system, in many given back or given to the customers, that allowed the But as a whole, when it I strongly believe my personal goals
strengths, I will take action. The follow the brick and mortar model, ways, it is not geared towards where loan applications can be our depositors. So I need to ensure comes to Fintech, we are are entwined with my professional
approved in a day or two. Yes, we
second thing is, because this is the we will need to spend a lot of addressing the current needs of the that my investments are good as government to borrow ones. For this year, I want MTB to
4th Industrial Revolution, I am money, but this Sub Branch system job market. After the colonial will get the documents later, but the well, where quality is a concern. more from the banks? have a transformation. MTB has a
moment you submit the documents,
trying to prepare this bank in that requires less and is safer than agent system, the way things shifted, we There are a lot of opportunities in the We can see that the government is we aim to reach out to the remotest very good platform, one of the best
direction. If we do not embrace banking. We are launching our have not seen that much of signifi- the algorithm will generate a ‘yes’ or remote areas that are hard to access; borrowing heavily from the banking in the market, but I do not think it
a ‘no’ answer based on those. On the
technology, we will fall behind. Islamic Banking Window very soon. cant change that are required. There agent banking can do good there. sector. Like their target for the fiscal possible areas to provide solutions to the has delivered its potential. My
unbanked population via our agent banking.
There are 59 banks, a bit too many We have obtained permission for is a huge industry-academia gap trade finance facility as well, we The same can be said about the year ending June 2020, was BDT W solemn efforts would be to enable
want to improve the customer
for a country like Bangladesh. fifteen (15) Islamic Banking and that is true for not only banking distribution of remittances, that is 47000 crore and they have already We are also setting up a number of Sub the bank to set a new standard of
Imagine a few more joining the Windows because this is a Muslim but for all other industries. Every experience. Besides, we are already playing a vital role. One thing is, borrowed more than BDT 50000 Branches, which I think is a very good service excellence. I strongly believe,
working with chat bots, which we
league and everybody is selling the country. This is one area we have year, we see about 2 million plus when we are offering agent banking, crore. This is mainly due to the initiative, thanks to our Central Bank, which with the support of my colleagues, I
same thing. So, unless you have a not been able to get into, so I think people joining the job market. At the expect to launch in 2-3 months time. the agents are the individuals. We shortfall in Tax Revenue by more can help us in terms of mobilizing the should be able to achieve that
We are also trying to do CRM, in
significant Unique Selling Proposi- this move will help us capture a entry level, there is no issue; once have not seen corporations play any than BDT 20000 crore in the first projects from a rural area or suburban area. ambition.
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