BANGLADESH BANK starts automated clearinghouse trial

The central bank finally launched an automated clearinghouse on trial yesterday for faster settlement of transactions and payment systems. Three commercial banks -- Janata, Dutch-Bangla and Eastern Bank -- took part in the trial operation, posting 40 cheques each for online clearing at Bangladesh Bank (BB). The system will significantly reduce settlement time -- from three days to only two hours. "We moved one step ahead of many other countries by introducing this modern technology-based payment and transaction system," BB Governor Atiur Rahman told reporters at the inauguration of the trial run. Rahman said the automated clearinghouse will formally be operational once all the banks operating here are fully prepared. But he hinted it will take several months. The Department for International Development (DFID) of United Kingdom funded $8.5 million to implement the Bangladesh Automated Clearing House (BACH). The BB had earlier marked August 3 to begin the trial run, but the deadline was later extended till today, based on poor preparation by most banks. Cash and cheques are the two main mediums of transactions in Bangladesh. Of these, cheques dominate in terms of payment value. Cheques are settled through the clearinghouses of BB and the state-owned Sonali Bank. According to BB officials, the existing clearinghouses settled over two and a half crore-payment instruments worth nearly Tk 4 , 50 ,000 crore in 2008. So, the system takes up to 10 days, depending on the location of the bank branch to settle a transaction. Under the new system, banks will not physically need to send cheques to the clearinghouse at BB. Banks can do the job online from their own offices using machine-readable cheques and the funds will be transferred electronically. Banks will have to issue magnetic ink character recognition (MICR) chequebooks and set up communication links, hardware and software that are a must for the system. Initially, the automated clearinghouse will run for about 1 ,100 bank branches in Dhaka. All branches will come under the system in phases. The BB governor said the trial run will continue until all banks are ready to integrate with the new system. Rahman hoped the remaining banks will gear up soon. Quoting a World Bank study, Stefan Austin, DFID chief in Bangladesh, said modern payment systems contributed up to one percent of economic growth in many countries. He hoped adoption of the new technology-based payment system will help Bangladesh achieve higher growth in future. In a statement, BRAC Bank said it will integrate with the BB automation system from today.