The central bank is thinking about launching a separate internet service for the banking sector. It is thought that even if the Internet is shut down in the country in the future, banking services can be kept operational. An outline may be presented by the central bank in the bankers’ meeting to be held on August 11 with the MDs of all banks. These discussions were held yesterday in the meeting of MDs of various banks with Governor Abdur Rauf Talukder.

All deputy governors, some executive directors and MDs of public and private banks were present in this meeting at Bangladesh Bank. In the meeting, what kind of problems a bank has faced due to the students’ movement, what should be done in the future was discussed. Some MDs expressed their views in the meeting.
Internet services were completely shut down last week due to the situation caused by student agitation. Due to which app based transactions could not be done. Again, after the two-day weekend, all bank branches were closed due to the three-day general holiday. At that time, most of the ATM booths did not receive money. After a few days of limited transactions, normal banking resumed on Wednesday and Thursday. Due to the shutdown of internet services, there are many reports of damages.

After the meeting, Association of Bankers, Bangladesh (ABB) Chairman and BRAC Bank MD Selim RF Hossain told media that Bangladesh Bank is thinking about separate infrastructure. A proposal will soon come to the governor from the IT department of the central bank in this regard. He said, social media internet and banking sector internet are on the same line. It shouldn’t be. The switch should be different. He said, a lesson learned from this crisis is that the banking sector needs to get out of dependence on the Internet. Again we have to think about how to start alternative internet services.

A number of MDs present in the meeting said that the amount of damage caused due to this unrest has been asked to be presented in the meeting held on August 11. In that meeting, Bangladesh Bank will make a presentation on building a separate internet infrastructure. If there is any suggestion from the bank side, initiative will be taken regarding separate internet connection in discussion with the government. Through this, efforts will be made to keep all the services including import, export, expatriate remittance, and the bank’s internet running even if the internet is shut down in any special situation.