DIGITAL BANKING

For the last decade, the rapid advancement in information and communication technology has significantly
influenced our banking industry in Bangladesh. Banks and financial organizations have improved their
services as a financial intermediary through adopting various IT solution services.
Technology now has become a tool that facilitates banks’ organizational structures, business strategies,
customer services and related functions. Bangladeshi banking has come a long way over the last 43 years
though still in these days we are unable to do much other than the management of cross-border trade
volume increasing.
Therefore Bangladeshi banking is confined to large classified loans, small automation, the least possible
number of retail banking solutions, low access to Internet banking, concentration of banking limits, or
exposure to few groups or families (that too in cash credit) hypothecation of assets, import loans, and term
loans.
Now, if we consider the booming of the mobile banking sector, with almost 50 million clients and a Tk 10,000
crore turnover per month, we have reasons to rejoice.
Even though cell phone companies have more to do here than banks, banks should be seen investing more
in information technology along with the creation of newly educated entrepreneurs through venture capital
funding, alternate banking channels, and capital market-linked product development to optimize
profitability of the banking sector.
Digitalisation in banking does not only mean online banking, internet banking, mobile banking or paperless
banking rather it is the application of new technologies to transform the existing banking business model
into a new banking business model. A model which will itself produce new customer base, unveil new
financial services, ensure faster and seamless services to clients with reduced operational cost, zero error,
ease of use and apparently, maximum security. Therefore, it’s not only a new channel; rather it’s a whole
new way of transforming existing transaction-based banking into the experience- based banking. So that,
banking can be accessed by customers anytime and from anywhere. Now some factors make digitization
compelling, which are-
a. The intensity of smartphone and internet: According to BTRC (Bangladesh Telecommunications Regulatory
Commission ), the total number of internet subscribers (considering those, who are using the internet for
the last 90 days) reached 63.195 million at the end of July 2016. Therefore, it’s not hard to guess that; the
consumer behavior is changing due to the saturation of internet, smartphones and growth in e-commerce.
b. Frequent diversion of buying decision: Social media will influence the purchase decision, peer reviewing
of product/services, online research, digital payment solution, etc.
c. Thriving for digitalisation: Digitalisation has now become a national movement – from union offices to the
secretariat and from village farmers to university students all are welcoming this new wind of change.
This points mentioned above shows the trend of changes in Banks in these recent times as well. The reason
why banks choose to be digitized are-

a. To capture future customer equity

b. To enhance internal connectivity
c. To ensure maximum reach with customer engagement
d. To make attractive banking
e. To ensure effective decision-making
f. To provide banking anywhere, anytime
g.To establish internal e-process

We are helping Banking sector in Bangladesh with banking & other solutions for banks since 2011. Since then
we’ve been observing the changes that have been made for digitization in the banking industry. We are
happy to serve one of our key client in Banking, City Bank with the complete banking solution, happy for our
other banking clients (AB Bank,HSBC, IFIC) for being able to deliver prominent banking and other services.
Our brilliant City Touch App has already gain great response and let’s run you through the story how this app
is bringing ease in the experience of banking.

Pahela Boishakh
‘Pahela Boishakh’ is the first day of Bangla new year. The day is a public holiday. This day has a special
significance for us as it is a part of Bangalee culture and tradition. People from all walks of life, irrespective
of their ethnic identity or religious beliefs, celebrate the day with traditional festivities. On this day, the
whole of Bangladesh is in a festive mood. The day inspires people to start life with renewed hopes and
inspirations.
Every year the day is celebrated traditionally. People wake up early in the morning, have a bath and wear
their traditional clothes. Women wear white sarees with red borders and adorn themselves with colourful
flowers while men dress themselves in pajamas and punjabis. It is a day when people love eating traditional
food.
One of the most colourful events of the day is held in Dhaka. Early in the morning, people in hundreds and
thousands pour in from all directions to attend the cultural function at Ramna Batamul organised by
Chhyanata. The cultural programme begins just at sunrise and the renowned artists of the country take part
in the programme that starts with the famous Tagore-song Esho-he-Boishakh, Esho Esho…… Artists also sing
traditional folk songs, and display classical dances with the rhythm of musical instruments.
People also come to join the colourful processions, the biggest carnival of the country, organised by the Fine
Arts students of Dhaka University. The procession usually displays the traditional practices of Bangalee
culture. The masks and wreaths worn by the people are so fascinating! Often they symbolise contemporary
worries or happiness in the national life. It attracts an increasing number of foreign tourists every year.
The day is also observed all over the country. Different social and cultural organizations and educational
institutions celebrate the day with their own cultural programmes.
On this day, newspapers bring out special supplements. There are also special programmes on the radio and
television.
The celebration of Pahela Boishakh marks a day of cultural unity for the whole nation irrespective of caste
and creed.

Unempolyment

Youth unemployment issue is crucial for sustainable development of Bangladesh. The youth unemployment
has increased significantly over the years whereas the overall unemployment remained stable. The annual
rise in population is increasing the share of the working-age population, as a mass of new employees joining
the workforce of the country. The BBS reported that, in 2016, the youth population in Bangladesh has been
about 52 million which is more than 33 percent of the total population. Over the next 10 years, the working-
age population structure has been expected to grow more than 2.2 million annually. As the employment is
falling with a simultaneous slow response on job creation, it would be an issue for the Bangladeshi policy
makers. Similarly, global youth unemployment is in the more critical situation than the overall
unemployment. ILO reported that one-third of the young people, 1.8 billion, were not involved in
employment, education or training. It is expected that around one billion youth would enter the job market
and only 40 percent of them would be able to get jobs in the next decade. Many employers do not seem to
value skills acquired in existing TVET and emphasise transferrable and soft skills ,general basic education do
not offer effectively. There appears to be a low-skills equilibrium in which the economy and the private
sector are trapped.The economy seems to have adjusted to a state of low skill and low productivity of
workers at the cost of low productivity of the economy, and generally low earning and underemploy ment
among workers, with or without skill training.

Under these circumstances, investment in expanding the existing system, even with some tinkering with
efficiency issues and the call for larger numbers of young people to participate in TVET may not produce the
desired results. Structural changes in the system and new thinking about governance management, resource
provision and use, and capacity building at different levels are required.The absence of quality education
and a skilled labour force are the main causes of youth unemployment in Bangla deshThe World Bank report
found that more than 75% of business leaders claimed that a scarcity of skilled young workers was a
challenge to hiring youth. Because investment to generate employment is not in line with demand, he said
the country currently must hire skilled workers from India, Sri Lanka and Thailand because of shortage of
skilled labour.e said Bangladesh’s population under 30 years of age makes up 60% of the total labour force.n
International Labour Organisation study from 2013 estimates that the working-age population will grow
annually to more than 2.2 million people over the next 10 years.A recent survey carried out by Prothom Alo
(a Bangladeshi newspaper) on the youth's perception of the country and their future, brought out some
interesting facts about job prospects in Bangladesh.Although 74 per cent of the respondents expressed
overall satisfaction with the economic situation, 82 per cent are unsure about securing a job in today's
economy. Given the global recession and a lack of growth of jobs in the country, the bulk of the youths
surveyed didn't provide an optimistic outlook about finding meaningful employment.Their remarks are not
off the mark when we look at the data from the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) which showed that
sustained economic growth over the past few years was unable to deliver employment opportunities.

Then the question is how much of this economic growth is actually benefitting people where growth is not
inclusive.That the bulk of our young people are not associated with any economic activity or any sort of skills
development mechanism, leads one to the conclusion that there is a huge gulf between our expectations
and the reality on the ground.Economists have been pointing out that Bangladesh's economic growth has
been performing satisfactorily with 6 to 7 per cent GDP growth.However, employment opportuni ties have
not been on par with this growth, which leads one to think that mere economic growth does not
automatically guarantee employment. Similar sentiments were echoed by South Asian Network for
Economic Modelling (SANEM) in its quarterly review on the Bangladesh economy.It states that although the
economy has performed well, the job market has not grown correspondingly, and hence the conditions of
the people have not improved markedly. Similarly, the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) stated in its
discussion on the latest budget that the nation is fast headed towards a great depression to be triggered by
joblessness. We now have more than 30 per cent unemploy ment rate among the educated class.So we are
actually in the midst of a jobless growth where the standard of living for the common people does not
improve despite a growing economy.Bangladesh is experiencing a persistent unemployment problem, which
is getting worse by the day. Recent media reports point out that the economy creates only two million jobs
every year, but a mere 600,000 new jobs were created during 2014 and 2015.

We have to contend with the fact that investment in the private sector has remained stubbornly low over
the past few years, so where will the new jobs come from? Again, policy action remains unclear as to how
to boost domestic investment, and regardless of all the hype centring on foreign direct investment, it is
obvious that the job sector will get a boost if domestic investment grows.Policies need to be undertaken to
revamp the skills develop ment sector. Technical education remains below par and the few technical
education institutions that we have in the country are not churning out enough skilled workers either for the
domestic or the overseas market.Young graduates have to get used to the idea that not all of them will be
absorbed into the formal job sector and many will have to become self-employed. For them to develop
entrepreneurial skills, we need to revamp our system of education which does not truly equip them for a life
in business.Education can no longer be limited to coaching-centre-based education and the pursuit of GPA
5 results. It needs to be a knowledge-based pursuit that requires a rethink at the policy level on what is being
taught in our schooling system and what should be taught. Young people need to learn to think for
themselves and we need to give them the tools for that thought process to begin early on.There is a host of
structural changes that need to be undertaken and those will not necessarily be painless. For a healthy
growth in the job market, we will have to undergo serious policy changes in various sectors of the economy.

A failure to make these will mean tens of thousands of young educated people joining the ranks of the
millions unemployed with little hope for a better future. Hopelessness is a dangerous thing nowadays,
especially in an age of extremism where the tendency of extremist outfits is to draw upon the educated to
carry out destructive activities. We do not need to go there. What we need is a wake-up call that will help
Bangladesh reap the demographic dividend. Youth unemployment is expected to be a major problem for
Bangladesh over the next decade, according to a report released by the World Bank yesterday. The report
titled Toward Solutions for Youth Employment released in Washington said the country was simultaneously
experiencing a fall in the employment growth rate and a slow uptake in job creation. The report said the
problem of youth unemployment is global, with a third of the world’s 1.8 billion young people not currently
involved in employment, education or training.

Youth unemployment is expected to be a major problem for Bangladesh over the next decade, according to
a report released by the World Bank yesterday. The report titled Toward Solutions for Youth Employment
released in Washington said the country was simultaneously experiencing a fall in the employment growth
rate and a slow uptake in job creation.The report said the problem of youth unemployment is global, with a
third of the world’s 1.8 billion young people not currently involved in employment, education or training.
The report said a further one billion youth will enter the job market in the next decade, but only 40% are
expected to be able to get jobs that currently exist.

The World Bank report compared the situation and indicators in four focus countries Bangladesh, Salvador,
Tunisia and Uganda. How is it in Bangladesh? A binary definition of employed and unemployed does not
portray the reality in Bangladesh and other developing countries. The poor cannot afford to remain
unemployed .The large majority of them are actually under-employed in the unregulated informal economy
eking out bare subsistence from insecure, vulnerable and low-wage work. The challenge is to link education
and training with skills and jobs in a way that contributes to creating a sufficient numbers of decent jobs
.Mohammad Ashraful Alam, chairman of the criminology and police sciences department of Mawlana
Bhashani Science and Technology University, told the Dhaka Tribune that there is a big connection between
crime and economics.

Youth suffering from poverty, unemployment and illiteracy are often driven by frustration towards drugs,he
said, adding that the step to crime is a small one.If unemployment rises, the crime rate will too, he said.
Ashraf said the state needs to take responsibility for this by creating new jobs and upgrading the education
system to include science and technology. Young people will feel that they do not belong and society may
treat them as a burden. Ehsan said crime will likely follow such a state of affairs, if not among the rich, almost
certainly among the middle and working classes. Ehsan said job creation and stipends may help deal with
unemployment.

CITY BANK
12 young businessmen way back in 1983 set the wheel in motion
We salute the founding fathers of this institution. It was the visionary entrepreneurship of 12 young
businessmen who braved the immense uncertainties with courage and zeal in order to set up the country’s
first private commercial bank in 1983.
Mr. Aziz Al Kaiser CHAIRMAN