Discussions have been started to keep banking services running round-the-clock through alternative means without internet in any unusual time including disaster. Bangladesh Bank has started preparing for this. Alternative arrangements for banking services have been taken into planning.
Managing Directors (MD) of public and private banks discussed the matter with Bangladesh Bank Governor Abdur Rauf Talukder on Thursday. The top officials of about a dozen banks including public sector Sonali Bank, private sector Dutch-Bangla, The City, Eastern, Mutual Trust, BRAC, Bank Asia, Prime and Trust Bank were present in the meeting. The governor advised them to keep the morale of the MDs strong in any situation. He also took news about the damage and casualties in the banking sector in the recent unrest.
In this meeting held at Bangladesh Bank, the MDs of various banks informed that four people of Dutch-Bangla Bank and Standard Chartered Bank have died in recent unrest. However, there was no major loss of assets in the banking sector. A couple of ATMs and branches were slightly damaged.
In the meeting, they told the governor that even though the Internet system was closed on July 18-23, the ATM service was open. However, online banking services have been disrupted due to internet shutdown. For this, they advised the IT department of Bangladesh Bank to take initiative to plan about alternatives with the advice of commercial banks.
At this time, there was a discussion about keeping the banking services open without internet by Bangladesh Bank. According to Bangladesh Bank, there are plans to make alternative arrangements for banking services. It can be via separate line or cable line without internet.
At the end of the meeting, Association of Bankers Bangladesh (ABB) chairman and MD of BRAC Bank Salim RF Hossain told reporters, ‘This time we have not suffered much. Four people related to the bank have died. There has been a discussion on whether it can be done in a different way instead of depending on the internet in providing banking services. Bangladesh Bank is looking into the matter.
In response to a question, Salim RF Hossain said that remittance flow will increase or decrease. There is nothing to worry about. This time there was no report of loss in business. However, many will try to take advantage of it.
He also said that before we become a developed country, we need to have separate service lines for banks and other necessary systems. Because social media and banks will run on the same line, it is not supposed to happen. We need to make the line separate so that even if the internet goes down, the bank’s operations continue. In that case, it is necessary to build a line like a separate broadband line for the bank.
