Digital Credit Access for Farmers
BRAC Bank and IFPRI Launch Agri Fintech
- BRAC Bank and IFPRI partner to digitize financial workflows for 50,000 farmers
- Finnovation Lab uses digital transaction histories to automate formal credit evaluations
- Gates Foundation supported two-year pilot project runs through October 2028
Accelerating digital financial inclusion and data-driven credit evaluation for rural smallholders, BRAC Bank has partnered with the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
Announced via an official press release on Tuesday (October 20, 2026), the initiative is spearheaded under BRAC Bank’s SME innovation lab, 'Finnovation', with financial backing from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Running through October 2028, the two-year pilot program targets onboarding 50,000 farmers and 1,500 agricultural input retailers onto a centralized digital transaction network. By leveraging transaction metadata and digital payment histories, the platform automates credit scoring, enabling traditionally unbanked farmers to secure formal institutional loans without predatory informal credit risks.
The agreement was signed by Syed Abdul Momen, Additional Managing Director and Head of SME Banking at BRAC Bank, alongside Johan Swinnen, Director General of IFPRI. The ceremony was attended by BRAC Bank Additional Managing Director Shaheen Iqbal, IFPRI Senior Research Fellow Dr. Kate Ambler, Bangladesh Country Representative Dr. Mughta Mohja, and Project Lead Dr. Mehrab Bakhtiar.
//DBTech/BDNP/MSI/BPO//
