Five digital banks receive preliminary approval

Bangladesh Bank has given preliminary approval to several proposed digital banks, issuing Letters of Intent (LoIs) to five institutions at a board meeting on Thursday.

The approved proposals are bKash Digital Bank, Boost-Robi, Digital Banking of Bhutan-DK, Kori, and Nova Digital Bank-Banglalink and Square. According to central bank sources, 12 organisations had applied to establish digital banks in the country. Furthermore, the applicants include British Bangla Digital Bank, Amar Digital Bank-22 MFI, 36 Digital Bank, Amar Bank, App Bank-Farmers, Maitri Digital Bank, Upokari Digital Bank and Munafa Islami Digital Bank-Akij, in addition to the five approved institutions.

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The issuance of LoIs constitutes an initial regulatory step towards establishing the proposed digital banks, rather than a final licence. However, the central bank has yet to disclose the conditions attached to the approvals or outline the subsequent licensing process. Consequently, it remains unclear how quickly the successful applicants will be able to commence operations.