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Bangladesh Bank has revised the transaction hours for the Real-Time Gross Settlement (BD-RTGS) system, aiming to expand access to instant electronic payments in response to growing demand.
The new timetable will take effect on Oct 5, the central bank said on Sunday, according to bdnews24.com.
Under the updated schedule, individual customers will be able to transfer money in local currency from 10am to 5pm, and in foreign currency until 4pm.
Transfers between banks, or interbank transactions, will be permitted from 10am to 5:15pm in local currency and until 4:30pm in foreign currency.
The central bank said the RTGS service will be available every day except on weekends and public holidays.
Customers using the system can move funds from one bank to another within 30 minutes, and the platform is also used to pay customs duties on imports.
While there is no cap on the maximum transfer amount, each transaction must be at least Tk 100,000. Banks charge a flat service fee of Tk 100 per transfer.
The RTGS network initially linked only commercial banks, but in May 2022 non-bank financial institutions were added.
By September that year, the system began supporting foreign exchange transactions. A total of 11,231 branches of banks and financial institutions are now connected.
Bangladesh Bank has also started work on a “Next Generation RTGS” project to enable uninterrupted, round-the-clock transactions.
The cost of installing RTGS software generally ranges from Tk 400,000 to Tk 600,000, depending on quality, with annual license renewals and service charges capped at about Tk 100,000.
Currently, the system allows customers to transfer at least Tk 100,000 between branches of the same bank or to accounts at other banks. There is no upper limit on transfers involving government funds or local foreign exchange transactions.
Bangladesh Bank first issued its RTGS policy in September 2015, and the system was launched the following month, on Oct 29, 2015.