Financial inclusion reaches 64.5% of adults, but farmers’, students’ savings decline: Cenbank report

In contrast, mobile financial services (MFS) and agent banking recorded substantial growth in transactions, deposits and lending. The total value of transactions through MFS increased by 25.58% to more than Tk21.83 lakh crore during the year.

About 64.5% of Bangladesh’s adult population now has access to formal financial services, but savings held by students and marginal farmers declined in 2025, highlighting uneven progress in the country’s financial inclusion drive.

Infographics: TBS

Deposits in school banking accounts fell by 3.69%, while savings in special Tk10 bank accounts for farmers declined by 8.77% compared with the previous year.

In contrast, mobile financial services (MFS) and agent banking recorded substantial growth in transactions, deposits and lending. The total value of transactions through MFS increased by 25.58% to more than Tk21.83 lakh crore during the year.

The findings were published in Bangladesh Bank’s Financial Inclusion Report 2025, which reviews developments in the banking, MFS, microfinance, capital market and insurance sectors during 2024 and 2025.

School accounts rise, but savings fall

The number of school banking accounts increased by 8.57% to 47.55 lakh in December 2025, from 43.80 lakh a year earlier. However, total deposits in these accounts fell to Tk1,994 crore from Tk2,071 crore.

The programme was introduced to bring students into the formal banking system and encourage savings from an early age.

More than half (52.24%) of school banking accounts were held in rural areas, although urban accounts accounted for 70.29% of total deposits. Boys held 54.9% of the deposits, while girls accounted for the remaining 45.1%.

A similar decline was recorded in special Tk10 bank accounts introduced to bring marginal farmers and low-income people into the formal financial system.

The number of farmers holding such accounts fell by 6.28% to 92.57 lakh in 2025, while their combined deposits dropped to Tk819 crore from Tk898 crore a year earlier.

However, total deposits across no-frills accounts rose by 1.26% to Tk9,328 crore, driven by increased savings in accounts held by social safety net beneficiaries and extremely poor people, the report said.

MFS transactions exceed Tk21.83 lakh crore

Mobile financial services recorded one of the strongest expansions, with the total number of transactions rising by 31.35% to 9.57 billion in 2025.

The value of transactions increased by 25.58% to Tk21.83 lakh crore, up from Tk17.38 lakh crore in 2024.

The number of MFS accounts reached 25.02 crore by the end of 2025, including 10.56 crore accounts held by women.

Merchant payments also increased, while transactions for utility bills, including gas and electricity, grew by more than 15%.

However, government-to-person (G2P) payments, through which the government transfers social assistance and other benefits directly to individuals, declined by 5.36%.

Meanwhile, agent banking recorded growth in customers, deposits and lending despite a contraction in its physical network.

The number of agent banking outlets fell by 3.5% to 20,501 in 2025, but the customer base grew by 7.2% to 2.58 crore. Deposits held through the channel increased by 19% to Tk49,720 crore, while loan disbursements surged by 46% to Tk35,023 crore.

Private commercial banks played the leading role in expanding agent banking services, according to the report.

Source: The Business Standard