Interest-free loans of up to 5,000 taka will be available through mobile banking

Bangladesh Bank has taken the initiative to provide interest-free digital loans of up to 5,000 taka to customers to pay various utility bills including mobile recharge, gas and electricity in times of emergency. In the proposed system, loans ranging from 50 taka to 5,000 taka can be taken through mobile banking.

According to the draft policy of Bangladesh Bank, the loans taken must be repaid within 30 days. This initiative has been taken with the aim of increasing cashless transactions in the country and expanding the scope of digital financial services. The central bank will issue final instructions after taking the opinions of the concerned.

No interest, but service fee will have to be paid

No interest will have to be paid on this proposed loan. However, a certain service fee may be charged according to the amount of the loan.

Proposed service fee:

Maximum 5 taka for loans of 50-250 taka
Maximum 10 taka for 251-500 taka
Maximum 15 taka for 501-1,000 taka
Maximum 25 taka for 1,001-2,000 taka
Maximum 35 taka for 2,001-3,000 taka
Maximum 50 taka for 3,001-5,000 taka

The draft directive of Bangladesh Bank states that no interest, penalty, processing fee or any other additional amount can be charged from the customer except for the prescribed service fee. There will be no opportunity to charge additional fees even if the loan is repaid before the stipulated time.

The entire process will be digital

It has been proposed to complete the entire process from loan application to approval through digital means. Instead of signing on paper, the customer's loan can be approved through digital consent and biometric identity verification.

However, this is still in the draft stage. Bangladesh Bank will issue the final policy after reviewing the opinions and suggestions.