Around 52.57 per cent people are still outside financial inclusion as they do not have any accounts with the monetary institutions mostly regulated under the Bangladesh Bank.聽
These people, aged over 10 years, are maintaining financial transactions through informal systems and are also known as unbanked.
Of those unbanked, 54.42 per cent are in the rural areas and the rest 48.44 per cent are in the urban areas, according to the Socio-Economic and Demographic Survey 2023 Report released in the past week by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics.
If a person has an account in a bank or non-bank financial institution, either individually or jointly, where financial transactions occur, that person is regarded as an account holder in that financial institution.
Compared with the unbanked population, around 47.43 per cent have financial accounts with banks, mobile banking services, non-bank financial institutions, micro-credit entities, and insurance companies regulated by the central bank.
However, the percentage of unbanked population could have been much higher had not the BBS considered mobile banking accounts.
Operated by bKash, Cash, Rocket and Upay, the mobile banking accounts hold highest 20.80 per cent compared with 5.85 per cent accounts held by 61 scheduled and five non-scheduled banks.
Besides, the multiple accounts hold second highest 18.13 per cent of the overall financial accounts.
The government has been trying to reduce the number of unbanked population for greater financial inclusion.
But it failed to make expected progress towards the object because unwillingness by banks, mostly private ones, to expand their activities in rural areas.
However, the expansion of the mobile banking activity and the agent banking service has brought about advantage for the government to increase the number of banked population.
The statistical bureau survey report said that the presence of mobile banking accounts is higher in rural areas than in urban areas at the ratio of 21.82 per cent to 18.75 per cent.
But the percentage of accounts in banks is higher in urban areas over rural areas at the ratio of 7.90 per cent to 4.82 per cent, said the survey report.
The survey report also reveals that the highest percentage of bank account is in Dhaka district at 8.37 per cent and lowest in Rangpur at 1.92 per cent.
The presence of mobile banking in Rangpur is highest at 28.10 per cent, compared with lowest 18.11 per cent in Chattogram and 18.13 per cent in Dhaka.
The statistical bureau鈥檚 analysis also depicts that 27.59 per cent account holders access transaction facility through their accounts.
Moreover, 6.51 per cent of account holders receive social safety net allowances and other government payments such as salaries, wages, scholarships, stipends and prices of agricultural or other goods through their accounts.
Around 2.30 per cent use their accounts for savings.
Of the total account holders, 57.8 per cent enjoy multiple types of facilities through their accounts.
