BB directs banks to submit prize bond transaction and award data

The Bangladesh Bank has instructed all scheduled banks to send information on prize bond purchases, sales, and award claims directly to the central bank.

In a circular issued today (2 December), the central bank's Debt Management Department said banks must receive all necessary documents related to prize bond purchases, sales, and prize claim applications, and then forward them to the relevant regional offices of Bangladesh Bank.

A senior official of Bangladesh Bank told The Business Standard that scheduled banks will now directly handle all dealings related to prize bond transactions and award claims with the central bank. 

"Scheduled banks will deal with the central bank. Bangladesh Bank will not engage in any customer-facing activities," he said. 

He added that under previous rules, Bangladesh Bank processed prize bond documents itself. "Now, the scheduled banks will complete the processing and send them to the central bank." 

The circular further states that scheduled banks will also take over the sale of savings certificates, replacing Bangladesh Bank in this role. 

Earlier this month, Bangladesh Bank stopped providing several customer services, including the sale of savings certificates and prize bonds, the exchange of damaged notes, and automated challan services, across all its branches.

As a result, these services are no longer available at the central bank's offices in Dhaka, Chattogram, Khulna, Bogura, Rajshahi, Sylhet, Barishal, and Rangpur.

Bangladesh Bank said it made the decision because no central bank in the world provides such direct services to the public. 

Additionally, as the institution is classified as a 'Key Point Installation (KPI)', the central bank decided to discontinue these services for security reasons.

For decades, people received these services at Bangladesh Bank's Motijheel office and other regional branches. From now on, however, all such services will be handled exclusively through commercial banks.