Internet banking increased by 57.42pc to Tk 3,783cr in March

The volume of internet-based banking transactions increased by 57.42 per cent or Tk 3,783 crore year-on-year basis in March this year as the outbreak of Covid-19 induced many bank customers to get used to  digital banking.
The volume of transactions through internet banking amounted to Tk 10,371.1 crore in March 2021 against Tk 6,588.0 crore in the same month of last year, according to latest Bangladesh Bank (BB) data.
The transaction volume in March was the highest after the introduction of internet banking. The amount of transactions in January and February was Tk 8,543.4 crore and Tk 8,477.3 crore respectively.
People started depending heavily on internet banking after the outbreak of Covid-19 in in March 2020 and the subsequent imposition of restrictions on public movement to control the spread of the virus.
Customers nowadays enjoy access to a wide range of banking services anytime from anywhere by logging into the banks' online platforms or installing specific applications on their smartphones.
Utility bill and credit card bill payments, intra-bank and interbank fund transfers, transaction statements, fund transfers to mobile financial service accounts and account opening are among the services which can be accessed through internet banking.
Apart from the surge in transaction volume, the number of clients of internet banking also increased significantly in the last one year.
As of March 2021, internet banking clients stood at 34,72,072 with a 31.08 per cent increase year-on-year.
In the wake of Covid outbreak, most banks in 2020 introduced mobile banking applications, WhatsApp banking and online account-opening platforms.
The next four to five year's development of digital banking has already been done in a year, owing to the global pandemic, said a senior official of a leading bank.