The Bangladesh Bank has withdrawn the cap on daily inter-bank transactions related to online fund transfers as internet banking has been gaining popularity as of late.
Previously, individual customers were allowed to carry out 10 inter-bank online fund transfers each day, whereas businesses were limited to only 20.
But from now on, no such limits will be applicable, according to the central bank.
On top of that, a customer can now transfer a maximum of Tk10 lakh per day with a maximum limit of Tk3 lakh per transaction.
Also, the limit for business entities has been fixed at Tk25 lakh per day with the maximum limit of Tk5 lakh per transaction.
The central bank also lifted the limit on the maximum amount of funds that can be transferred from one account to another within a particular bank.
However, according to the central bank's new rule, banks have been given the authority to set the daily intra-bank transaction limit on their own, which earlier had a limit of Tk5 lakh per day.
According to a central banker, Bangladesh Bank took the decision as consumers of the sector have been increasingly shifting their dependence on online banking services in contrast to that of offline mode.
Internet banking transactions rose 34.58% year on year to Tk8,477.3 crore in February 2021, as per central bank data, while the users of internet banking also rose 29.83% from February 2020 till February 2021.
Besides, debit card transactions rose 22.24%; credit card transactions 23.89% and prepaid card transactions rose 15.97% within that same period, according to central bank data.
With the advent of the pandemic many banks even introduced mobile banking apps, WhatsApp banking and online account-opening platforms.
Following that, transactions through internet banking amounted to Tk 17,763 crore in February, up 109% year-on-year, central bank data showed
“For the last two years, I have never even visited a bank branch even once. I pay my credit card bills online, deposit my savings and even pay for my installments online,” Farjana Rahman, a consumer of UCB told Dhaka Tribune.
She further added that her salary is directly deposited into her own account and for any cash needs, she relies on withdrawing cash from the local ATM booths instead of visiting any branch physically.