School banking deposits cross Tk 13b

Deposits with the school banking accounts at commercial banks have crossed  Tk 13 billion (Tk 1,300 crore) at the end of December 2017 as this banking is gradually getting huge response from the students across the country.

The central bank's latest quarterly report on financial inclusion shows that a total of Tk 13.6296 billion (Tk 1,362.96 crore) was deposited with 14,53,936 school banking accounts at 56 scheduled banks up to December 31, 2017 which was Tk 10.2079 billion (Tk 1,020.79 crore) with 12,57,370 school banking accounts up to December 31, 2016.

According to the report, the school banking service is more popular in cities than in rural areas as 8,89,029 school banking accounts were opened in cities against 5,64,907 accounts in rural areas.

This banking is also more popular among the male students than the female students as 8,52,107 school banking accounts were opened by the male students against 6,01,829 accounts by the female students.

"Bangladesh Bank launched the programme in November 2010 for school students to help them save up for the future, learn financial literacy at an early age and encourage the habit of saving in students," an official of Bangladesh Bank said on Thursday, reports BSS.