More than one-fourth people living in waterlogged haor areas have a lack of literacy on digital finance, revealed a study of Policy Research Institute (PRI) on Thursday.
“Over 25 percent responders are reluctant to use mobile banking due to complexity of transaction. The policy makers should come forward to educate the communities in hard-to-reach Haor areas,” said Professor Dr. Nazrul Islam of Shahjalal University of Science and Technology (SUST) while sharing the joint study with PRI in Dhaka.
The economic think-tank PRI organised the national-level session on digital financial services and financial inclusion in association with Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation at Sheraton Dhaka. In his presentation, Prof. Islam shared the insights from the survey conducted in hard-to-reach areas in Sylhet Kishorgonj Sunamgonj, Netrokona and Habiganj.
The researcher mentioned that around 68 percent of Haor people use mobile banking for receiving money while 11.28 percent receive social safety net allowance through these platforms.
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation country lead Snigdha Ali and PRI vice-chairman Dr. Sadiq Ahmed were guests of honour while executive director Ahsan H. Mansur made an address of welcome.
PRI vice chairman Dr. Sadiq said that there were various ways to approach this subject because the constraints will likely vary by the target population in financial inclusion. “In particular, the constraints facing the poorest of the poor and the socially disadvantaged population will greatly differ from those facing the urban, educated middle income group,” he said.
Bangladesh Bank’s former executive director Dr. Lila Rashid. BIGD visiting fellow Khondoker Shakhawat Ali and Prof Saidur Rahman of Bangladesh Agricultural University took part in discussion on the keynote papers.
Prof. Dr. Akhtaruzzaman Khan of Bangladesh Agricultural University, Prof. Dr Nazrul Islam of SUST and Associate Prof Asrafi Bintay Akram from Hajee Mohammad Danesh Science and Technology University made keynotes in the seminar.