Tuesday, 26 August, 2025
Bangladesh Bank (BB) has invited eligible institutions to apply for digital bank licences, with applications to be accepted between Sept 1 and 30. The announcement was made on Monday evening on the central bank’s official Facebook page.
Even those who had applied in the earlier round must apply again as the central bank has revised its policy on issuing digital bank licences, raising the minimum paid-up capital requirement to Tk 300 crore—more than double the previous threshold of Tk 125 crore.
The new directive was announced in a circular issued by Bangladesh Bank on Sunday..
Bangladesh Bank first formulated its Digital Bank Guidelines in 2023. Licences for digital banks will be granted under the Bank Company Act of 1991, while payment services will be governed by the Bangladesh Payment and Settlement System Regulations of 2014.
Under the updated framework, digital banks must have a head office but will operate without any physical presence for customer services. These banks are not permitted to offer over-the-counter (OTC) services and will not maintain any branches, sub-branches, ATMs, cash deposit machines (CDMs), or cash recycling machines (CRMs). All banking services will be delivered through mobile apps and digital devices.
Digital banks will be restricted from opening letters of credit (LCs) for import-export and will not be allowed to issue loans to large or medium-sized industries. Their operations will be confined to small-scale, credit-focused transactions.
The model emphasises high-end technology with round-the-clock (24/7) availability. To facilitate customer transactions, digital banks may offer virtual cards, QR codes, and other advanced digital tools—but they will not be allowed to issue plastic cards.
Through partnerships with other banks, customers of digital banks will be able to access services such as ATMs and agents.
Comments
Bangladesh Bank (BB) has invited eligible institutions to apply for digital bank licences, with applications to be accepted between Sept 1 and 30. The announcement was made on Monday evening on the central bank’s official Facebook page.
Even those who had applied in the earlier round must apply again as the central bank has revised its policy on issuing digital bank licences, raising the minimum paid-up capital requirement to Tk 300 crore—more than double the previous threshold of Tk 125 crore.
The new directive was announced in a circular issued by Bangladesh Bank on Sunday..
Bangladesh Bank first formulated its Digital Bank Guidelines in 2023. Licences for digital banks will be granted under the Bank Company Act of 1991, while payment services will be governed by the Bangladesh Payment and Settlement System Regulations of 2014.
Under the updated framework, digital banks must have a head office but will operate without any physical presence for customer services. These banks are not permitted to offer over-the-counter (OTC) services and will not maintain any branches, sub-branches, ATMs, cash deposit machines (CDMs), or cash recycling machines (CRMs). All banking services will be delivered through mobile apps and digital devices.
Digital banks will be restricted from opening letters of credit (LCs) for import-export and will not be allowed to issue loans to large or medium-sized industries. Their operations will be confined to small-scale, credit-focused transactions.
The model emphasises high-end technology with round-the-clock (24/7) availability. To facilitate customer transactions, digital banks may offer virtual cards, QR codes, and other advanced digital tools—but they will not be allowed to issue plastic cards.
Through partnerships with other banks, customers of digital banks will be able to access services such as ATMs and agents.
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