Bangladesh is well on track for adopting FinTech for sustainable growth: Dr Salim

Bangladesh is well on track for adopting Financial Technology (FinTech) for sustainable growth, said Professor Dr Md Salim Uddin, chairman of executive committee of Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited. 

He remarked in an 'Executive Development Programme' organised by Islami Bank Training & Research Academy (IBTRA) on Saturday (2 April) on virtual platform, read a press release. 

Mohammed Monirul Moula, managing director and CEO of the bank addressed the programme as chief moderator. 

Additional Managing Directors Muhammad Qaisar Ali and Md Omar Faruk Khan addressed the programme as guest participants. 

SM Rabiul Hassan, principal of IBTRA presided over the programme. deputy managing directors, chief risk officer, CAMLCO, top executives; head of zones and branch incumbents joined the programme virtually.
 
Professor Salim said the FinTech ecosystem in Bangladesh has been growing and is expected to grow in the coming years. 

The market of digital financial technology in Bangladesh is also growing, he added. 

"Bangladesh is trailing in terms of using technology to automate and digitalise financial activities. According to Light Castle Partners, the FinTech industry in Bangladesh enjoys an unsaturated market bursting with opportunities for cutting-edge and innovative financial services. Despite the increasing adoption of Technology, lack of interoperability remains a major concern that obstructs further growth of Digital Financial Service in Bangladesh," he said.

He underscored that infrastructure readiness in access to electricity, mobile network coverage, e-governance and access to digital services are well on track for achieving sustainable growth in Bangladesh. 

"We have to importantly focus on access to internet connections, quality and speed, affordability of mobile devices and internet for accelerating the growth," he added. 

He stressed on four basic pillars of digital Bangladesh including infrastructure, human capital, financial and policy readiness for facing 4th industrial revolution. 
 
He highlighted the challenges and opportunities for 4th industrial revolution in banking & financial sector of Bangladesh. 

The challenges includes security ricks and cyber-crime, building trust & rapport and increased competition while the opportunities are enhanced customer experiences, increased security and efficiency as well as flexibility for FinTech.  

He said, "Central Bank Digital Currency-CDBC is increasing rapidly across the world. 87 countries around the world exploring Government Coins while 7 countries fully launched. To cope with these changes, we have to focus on Artificial Intelligence bots instead of call centers, cashless transaction instead of ATM Booths and block-chain to avoid audits. To expedite sustainable growth he stressed on bringing 522 crore unique mobile phone users of the world under the FinTech through Apps and other platforms."    

Professor Salim said, "We have high level of government commitment, supportive regulations and guidelines and Digital Financial Service Lab which shall help to expedite the sustainable growth." 

He said that IBBL is working in line with government policies which made this bank sustainable one recognized by Bangladesh Bank. 

The Global FinTech Market would reach 32 trillion USD by 2026 and called upon the concerned to develop and arrange high expert committee institutionally and nationally for adopting the changes and development, he added.

In his speech, Mohammed Monirul Moula said that IBBL is working with the year theme of `Sustainable Growth through FinTech Solution'. 

This bank is adopting with latest technologies, he added. 

He said the bank has been working to bring financially disadvantaged people under financial services using FinTech. 

He called upon all to avail all the financial services of IBBL including modern technology rich services, CellFin app and iBanking.