Dutch Bangla Bank is set to convert its regular savings deposit accounts to premium ones -- a move that has caused quite the stir among its account holders as it necessitates them to maintain a higher balance at all times.
At present, Tk 500 needs to be maintained, but after the forced conversion, it would go up to Tk 5,000.
On December 1 last year, DBBL’s Uttara branch had dispatched letters to account holders informing that their current savings account would become ‘saving deposit plus’ from May 2021.
The existing account number, bank card and cheque books would stay the same but the minimum deposit would increase to Tk 5,000 from Tk 500, as per the letter.
Dhaka Tribune has a copy of the letter.
If a client is not interested in converting their regular saving deposit account to saving deposit plus, they have to inform the nearest DBBL branch within the next 90 days.
In this case, the client would be given a new bank account number, a new cheque book and a new bank card, said the DBBL letter.
Their existing ones would become inactive.
For those who opt to keep their regular savings account, what is worse is that they would get to take out money three times a month at most. A Tk 5 charge would be applicable for each additional transaction.
There would also be a Tk 5 charge for each page of cheque book used.
The saving deposits plus account holders would have no such restrictions.
The forced conversion to a premium savings account is harassment, a host of DBBL account holders told Dhaka Tribune.
“This is just cheating with us,” said a DBBL accountholder seeking to remain unnamed.
He said he will close down his account.
Another account holder said he did not yet receive any such letter or text from the bank but he was aware of the issue owing to a post on social media.
“It would be difficult for me to run my DBBL account if it happens,” he told Dhaka Tribune.
Most of the banks have premium quality saving deposit account with more benefits and features for their clients but it is not mandatory for them, said a half dozen bankers seeking anonymity.
Generally, clients open a savings deposit account after seeing its features, so they will not want to convert their savings account naturally, they said.
It is not the right way for DBBL to convert their regular saving accounts into a premium quality saving account, they said.
Abul Kashem Md. Shirin, managing director of DBBL, did not respond to texts and calls from the correspondent for the report.
