Banking Service Sees Greater Penetration To Rural Areas

Banks and banking services have experienced a greater penetration to rural areas bringing more people under the financial inclusion net over the last five years, from 2010-2015.

According to a recent study conducted by the General Economics Division of the Planning Commission that highlighted the government's financial inclusion efforts, the access to and use of formal banking services at the rural and sub-district level improved substantially between 2010 and 2015.

The study titled'Banking Atlas explored eight major banking variables from 2010 to 2015. Here are the highlights:

• The number of branches increased at the Upazila level during the time. The average number of branches per square kilometer rose to 0.86 from 0.71.
• The average number of branches per 100,000 adults went up to 11.34 in 2015 from 9.25 in 2010.
• The average size of deposits and loans also witnessed a significant rise. An adult's bank deposit nearly trebled to BDT 118,050 in 2015 from BDT 44,500 in 2010.
• The loan per also account increased to BDT 24,970 from BDT 17,170.