Customer service at state-owned Sonali Bank, which celebrated its 50th anniversary on Thursday, has been termed as the most unsatisfactory by Bangladesh Bank Governor Fazle Kabir.
Stating that he is not at all satisfied with the customer service of state-owned banks, he said: “State owned banks are still lagging behind in customer-friendly services, of which Sonali Bank is the most backward. In other words, Sonali Bank is leading in lagging behind in customer service. State-owned banks need to do more to serve customers.”
He made the remarks while speaking at the 50th anniversary event held at the Bangabandhu International Conference Center (BICC).
“As Sonali Bank is a leader in the banking sector, it will not be appreciable for it to treat customers badly. Care should be taken to avoid any such allegations,” he added.
However, Kabir said that the number of Sonali Bank’s loss-making branches is dropping, with the bank currently having 16 such branches.
Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal, while attending the event as the chief guest, said that in the last three years, Sonali Bank has not taken any subsidies.
“Sonali Bank must maintain people’s trust,” he added.
Speaking about the banking sector, the finance minister said: “The interest rates on loans from scheduled banks have come down from 12.3% to 7.1%. The debt status is Tk12.45 lakh crore, agricultural credit has quadrupled, and 114.4 million people have joined mobile banking.”
The central bank governor also said that Sonali Bank has fallen behind in loan processing, which needs to be addressed.
After the Hallmark scam, Sonali Bank has been in a debt scare.
“You guys think, if you do not give out loans, you will survive, but that cannot happen. And giving out loans for big projects only is not acceptable either. You have to come out of these two principles. You need to increase the disbursement of microcredit. There is nothing to fear if the loan is given properly,” Fazle Kabir explained.
Meanwhile, five employees of Sonali Bank’s Kolkata branch were sacked on March 8 for embezzling Rs14 lakh.
According to sources, the five employees — all Indian citizens — withdrew money from the branch office account of Sonali Bank and deposited that into another fake account.
An inquiry committee found evidence that several employees of the bank were involved in the process.
The investigation committee and the bank authorities directed the accused employees to submit the required documents within the stipulated time to defend themselves from allegations.
As those employees were unable to produce documents to defend themselves, the bank fired them.
The Sonali Bank branch in Kolkata operates mainly in Kolkata as a self-governing institution with the support of ICICI Bank of India.