School banking deposits cross Tk 1,300cr
Deposits with the school banking accounts at commercial banks have crossed Taka 1,300 crore at the end of December 2017 as this banking is gradually getting huge response from the students across the country.
The central bank's latest quarterly report on financial inclusion shows that a total of Taka 1,362.96 crore was deposited with 14,53,936 school banking accounts at 56 scheduled banks up to December 31, 2017 which was Taka 1,020.79 crore with 12,57,370 school banking accounts up to December 31, 2016.
According to the report, the school banking service is more popular in cities than in rural areas as 8,89,029 school banking accounts were opened in cities against 5,64,907 accounts in rural areas.
This banking is also more popular among the male students than the female students as 8,52,107 school banking accounts were opened by the male students against 6,01,829 accounts by the female students.
"Bangladesh Bank launched the programme in November 2010 for school students to help them save up for the future, learn financial literacy at an early age and encourage the habit of saving in students," a BB official told journalist on Thursday, reports BSS.
BB data shows that a total of Taka 164.63 crore has been deposited in state-owned commercial banks, Taka 81.45 crore deposited in specialized banks, Taka 1,107.31 crore in private commercial banks and Taka 9.58 crore in foreign commercial banks.
Dutch-Bangla Bank, Islami Bank Bangladesh, Eastern Bank, United Commercial Bank and Rupali Bank are the five institutions that pulled most of the deposits from the students.
Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited (IBBL) opened 2,37,398 accounts, which is 16.33 percent of the total accounts, while Dutch Bangla Bank ranked the top by collecting deposits of Taka 406.72 crore with school banking accounts.
"As per direction of the central bank, IBBL introduced the school banking, so that the future generation can acquire knowledge on financial system," said IBBL Deputy Managing Director Abu Reza Mohd. Yeahia.
Southeast Bank Limited Executive Vice President Abdul Baten Chowdhury said school banking encourages the students to create a mindset for savings.
SEBL is providing all sorts of supports to the students for opening bank accounts, he added.
He informed that about Taka 3.50 lakh has been deposited with the 58 school banking accounts at the principal branch of SEBL.
