Photo: Collected
Mohammad Amanullah, a street vendor, sells seasonal fruits in a basket in the sidewalk or whatever suitable space he finds in the city’s Motijheel area. However, sometimes business become hard when there is no good spot or an eviction drive conducted by concerned authorities; those days, he walks around nearby areas carrying the basket on his head to sell the products, otherwise, the fruits would perish. “Sales are good some days but it is not uncommon to count losses due to lower sales, bad weather or getting evicted from the footpath,” he said.
Nonetheless, the fruit seller, in his mid-30s, realised the importance of savings to mitigate potential risks as well as levelling-up business with investment when time is right. Amanullah said, “I have long been using bKash, mostly to send money to my family living in Pirojpur. Recently, a friend of mine convinced me to save weekly on a bank through bKash app. As my business depends on daily sales, it is much easier for me to save every week than waiting a month.”
Weekly savings through bKash app has become a smart solution especially for many micro business owners like Amanullah, daily or weekly wage earners, shopkeepers as well as students and housewives.
Keeping that in mind, bKash has introduced the short-term ‘weekly savings’ product of two banks and a financial institution in its platform. This weekly digital savings is the first of its kind in the country. bKash customers, without opening a bank account, can start savings from Tk 250 to Tk 5,000 per week with IDLC Finance, Dhaka Bank and BRAC Bank.
The new weekly savings would be very instrumental in ensuring financial security especially for marginalised communities. Low income and daily wage-based professionals will be able to save little by little through this product. It will be useful for their future security, investment in business or agriculture, education, medical or any other urgent needs, and most importantly creating a habit of regular savings.
Amount of Weekly Savings and its Term:
bKash customers can deposit Tk 250, Tk 500, Tk 1,000, Tk 2,000, or Tk 5,000 per week with IDLC Finance, Dhaka Bank, and BRAC Bank through the bKash app. The tenure for the weekly savings is 06 and 12 months. Comparing the interest rates offered by banks and financial institution in the bKash app, customers can open savings in just minutes anytime from anywhere.
How to Open Savings Account in bKash App:
To open weekly savings, tap on the ‘Savings’ icon from the home screen of the bKash app and tap on ‘open new savings’. Then select ‘General Savings’ and select the reason of opening the savings. Choose the savings tenure of six or 12 months, select deposit type (weekly), and pick the amount of deposit -- Tk 250, Tk 500, Tk 1,000, Tk 2,000, or Tk 5,000 per week.
In next step, select the scheme of IDLC, Dhaka Bank or BRAC Bank from the list of banks and financial institution. Then, details of the nominee should be given to proceed to the next step where the customer will be asked to carefully check the deposit details and agree to the terms and conditions. Finally, tap and hold the bottom part of the screen following input of your bKash PIN number to complete the account opening procedure. Once the savings application is completed, bKash and bank or financial institution will send confirmation messages. Besides, one can open multiple savings schemes from the same bKash app.
If there is sufficient balance, the instalment of the savings will be automatically credited to the savings account on a specific date, usually the date of savings opening is the date for deposit. However, bKash will notify you about depositing sufficient money in the account before the instalment deposit date. Upon maturity of the savings, the total money with profit will be deposited back to the bKash account. Customers can cash out the money from agent points or ATMs of selected banks without any charge. However, if a customer want to close the savings before the maturity date, it can be done from the app.
It is to be noted that the monthly savings was launched in the bKash app back in 2021. Due to convenience of the product, bKash customers opened nearly 2 million savings with four banks and a financial institution. About one-third of those customers are women. Currently, savings can be opened with IDLC Finance, BRAC Bank, Dhaka Bank, Mutual Trust Bank, and City Bank.
Messenger/Fameema
