e_Paper, Monday, May 15, 2017

10
MONDAY, MAY 15, 2017
DT
News
Small businesses make up
29% of agent bank users
• Shariful Islam
Small businesses account for 29%
of total users of agent banking followed
by housewives that constitute
18%, according to a study of
Bangladesh Institute of Bank Management
(BIBM).
Agent banking refers to providing
limited scale banking and financial
services to a sect of under-served
population through engaging agents
under a valid agency agreement,
rather than a teller or cashier.
It is the owner of an outlet that
conducts banking transactions on
behalf of a bank.
The information was unveiled at
a round-table discussion of BIBM
styled “Agent Banking: Effectiveness
in Financial Inclusion” held at
its auditorium yesterday.
Bangladesh Bank (BB) Deputy
Governor SK Sur Chowdhury was
present at the event as the chief
guest while former deputy governor
of the central bank Khondokar
Ibrahim Khaled spoke on the occasion
as special guest.
BIBM Director General (DG) Dr
Toufic Ahmad Choudhury chaired
event while its Director Prof
Prashanta Kumar Banerjee presented
the report.
In his presentation Prashanta said:
“Of the total users of agent banking,
29% are small businesses while 18%
housewives, 15% public and private
employees, 7% farmers, 7% students
and 3% are day labourers.”
The report said the agent banking
is mostly popular in Dhaka as
24% of the users are residents of
the division while 18% of Chittagong.
The least users are in Sylhet
making up 5% of the total agent
AGENT BANKING USERS IN BANGLADESH
03
07
07
Source: BIBM
21
29
15 18
banking account holders.
In his address, SK Sur Chowdhury
said: “Agent banking is playing
an important role in financial
inclusion as 82% of its users are residing
in remote areas. Operational
cost of agent banking should have
to be reduced with a view to expanding
the service.”
Many banks have received licence
for agent banking, but only
two-three banks are now providing
the services, he added. Sur urged
all banks that received licences to
start agent banking services.
Khondokar Ibrahim Khaled said:
“The number of secret agent banking
is on the rise at an alarming rate and
hundi business is being conducted
in the name of such banking.”
“It should be stopped and those
involved have to be brought to book.”
The commercial banks need to
rein in the agent banking totally,
and if they fail, the central bank
Users in %
Small businesses
Others
Day-labourers
Farmers
Students
Employees
Housewives
should take steps against them, according
to the former governor.
BIBM Director General Dr Toufic
Ahmad Choudhury said the agent
banking is playing a vital role in expanding
banking network.
He also sought for a comprehensive
guideline for the service.
According to BB sources,
Dutch-Bangla, Bank Asia, Al-Arafah
Islami, Social Islami, Modhumoti,
Mutual Trust, NRB Commercial,
Standard, Agrani, Midland, and
First Security Islami Bank are providing
agent banking services now.
Though Trust Bank and South
Bangla Agriculture and Commerce
Bank have got the licences, they
are yet to launch the services.
At present, the number of
agents is 1,646 and outlets 2,601,
while the number of accounts
stand at 5,44,536. The central bank
approved agent banking system in
the banking sector in 2014. •
Divorce rising in Dhaka
as women seek way out
of abusive marriages
• Bilkis Irani
Ten years ago, Halima Akter, employed
at a private company in Agargaon,
Dhaka, would not have dreamt
of divorcing her husband despite the
incompatibility that plagued their
marriage.
In 2014, the situation was quite
different, which enabled Halima to
seek a solution to her problems – a divorce.
She sent a divorce notice to her
husband of seven years, Rasel Ahmed,
on March 18, 2014.
Things have changed in Dhaka in
recent years; more and more women
are speaking up about their marital
problems and seeking a solution. In
most cases, divorce is the end result.
Dr Sadeka Halim, sociology professor
in Dhaka University, believes this is
a positive trend.
“In most cases, it is the women
who suffer physical and mental abuse
in the hands of their husbands and
in-laws. But now many women are
speaking up against the abuse and
choosing to break out of the vicious
cycle,” she told the Dhaka Tribune
According to Dhaka North City
Corporation (DNCC) and Dhaka South
City Corporation (DSCC) data, around
67% of the divorce notices issued
from 2011 to 2016 were by women. In
all five zones of DNCC, 28,355 divorce
notices were issued in 2011-2016,
14,966 of which were filed by women.
In two zones (Zone 1 and Zone 4)
of DSCC, 4,811 divorce notices were
issued in 2011-2016, 3,215 of which
were sent by women.
The numbers of divorce notices
are increasing every year.
In 2011, 2,864 notices (1,773 by
women, 1,091 by men) were issued in
DNCC and 819 (533 by women, 285
by men) in Zones 1 and 4 of DSCC. In
2016, the numbers of divorce notices
issued in DNCC was 4,847 (3,426 by
women, 1,421 by men) and 852 (569
by women, 283 by men) in DSCC.
Salma Ali, executive director of
Bangladesh National Women Lawyers’
Association (BNWLA), said divorce
nowadays is also propelled by the fact
that women are becoming self-sufficient.
“Before, most women were
entirely dependent on their husbands,
which is why they tolerated all kinds
of abuse silently. But as women are
becoming financially independent,
they have both the confidence and
the opportunity to get out of abusive
marriage,” she said.
However, there are many cases
where Muslim men deliberately torture
their wives so they would initiate
the divorce, because the men believe
they would be exempted from paying
denmohor, the alimony that is mandatory
under Islamic law, Salma said.
Marjia Mukta, a housewife and
mother of an eight-year-old daughter
in Agargaon, dissolved her 10-year
marriage by divorcing her husband
Ekram Hossain because he was having
an extramarital affair.
Ekram, who lives in Saudi Arabia,
told the Dhaka Tribune that he did not
want to initiate the divorce because
he did not want to pay denmohor to
his wife.
This is a major misconception,
says Dr Kazi Zahed Iqbal, lawyer in the
Supreme Court. •
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