National Bank resumes full services as customers withdraw, deposit money, open LCs
Such scenes were seen today (15 October) during visits to the bank’s Motijheel, Dilkusha and Foreign Exchange branches in the capital.
National Bank customers were once again able to withdraw money as needed from all its branches and ATMs, while some branches also received fresh deposits into business accounts.
Such scenes were seen today (15 October) during visits to the bank's Motijheel, Dilkusha and Foreign Exchange branches in the capital.
At the Motijheel branch, MA Khan was among the customers who withdrew cash, receiving Tk20,000 from the counter.
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"Compared with the service I had received from National Bank over the past two years, today's situation is completely different. I am very happy that I was able to withdraw money without submitting any application beforehand," he told TBS.
Roksana Parvin, manager of the branch, told TBS, "We made the payments against customers' applications without waiting to send them to the head office."
She also said Tk73 lakh had been deposited at the branch on Thursday, while customers had withdrawn Tk6 lakh. Among the depositors, H International and HP Traders each deposited Tk30 lakh, she added.
Chandan Kumar Das, operations manager of Dilkusha branch, said 64 customers had applied to withdraw deposits between 11 and 14 October, involving around Tk5 crore.
He said nearly 100 customers beyond those applicants had also been paid their deposits.
Payments ranged from a minimum of Tk50,000 to a maximum of Tk4.5 lakh per customer, the manager said.
Dilkusha branch customer Shamsuzzoha told TBS, "I withdrew Tk1 lakh today with a cheque. I could have withdrawn more."
A female official working at the branch's cash counter, speaking on condition of anonymity, said they had served 36 customers until 1pm, with the highest single payment being Tk4.5 lakh.
At Motijheel Foreign Exchange branch, DJ Garments deposited around Tk31 lakh against its letter of credit, while Rajdhani Traders deposited Tk6 lakh, Mahbubur Rahman, second manager of the branch, said.
In Chattogram, between 12:30pm and 2pm, only one customer was seen withdrawing money during visits to the bank's New Market and Khatunganj branches.
Anjan Barua, a customer at the New Market branch, told this newspaper he had visited the bank the previous day to learn whether applications were required to withdraw more than Tk1 lakh. After learning that no application was necessary, he did not submit one.
Mohammad Alamgir, manager of the Khatunganj branch, said that many customers remained apprehensive. Some visited to check whether the bank was paying deposits, while others withdrew or deposited money. Many chose to observe the situation before making transactions.
He said restoring customer confidence was the bank's biggest challenge, as some depositors feared they might not recover their money in the future.
The manager hoped confidence would gradually return as customers saw the bank making payments normally.
National Bank Chairman Melita Mehzabeen told TBS that she had visited several branches since morning and seen customers leaving happy after withdrawing money as needed.
"The current management has worked very hard to provide all types of services to customers. This effort must continue," she said.
She added, "Today money is being disbursed from all our branches and ATM booths. If customers face any delay in receiving services at any branch, I request them to view the matter with understanding."
Tk7,000 crore liquidity support
National Bank has already received Tk7,000 crore in liquidity support to resume normal banking operations, according to bank sources.
State-owned Sonali Bank provided the funds against a Bangladesh Bank guarantee. However, Bangladesh Bank imposed several conditions on the use of the money.
Among them, deposits belonging to any former or current director of the bank cannot be repaid using the funds. The money also cannot be used to disburse loans.
Meanwhile, the bank collected withdrawal applications from customers between 11 and 14 October to repay deposits as per demand.
Bank sources said around 11,000 customers applied to withdraw a total of Tk2,000 crore during the four days.
