Download - Performance dynamics of BRAC Bank Ltd
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND:
BRAC Bank Limited is a full service scheduled commercial bank. It has both local and
International Institutional shareholder. The bank is primarily driven with a view of
creating opportunities and pursuing market niches not traditionally meet by conventional
banks. BRAC Bank has been motivated to provide “best-in-the-class” services to its
diverse assortment of customers spread across the country under on-line banking.
At present, BRAC Bank is one of the fastest growing banks in the country. In order to
support the planned growth of its distribution, network and its various business segments,
BRAC Bank is currently looking for impressive goal oriented, enthusiastic, individuals for
various business operations. The bank wants to build a profitable and socially responsible
financial institution. It carefully listen to the market and business potentials, It is also
assisting BRAC and stakeholders to build a progressive, healthy, democratic and poverty
free Bangladesh. It helps make communities and economy of the country stronger and to
help people achieve their financial goals. The bank maintains a high level of standards in
everything for our customers, our shareholders, our acquaintances and our communities
upon, which the future affluence of our company rests.
BRAC Bank Limited, one of the latest generation of commercial banks started its journey
on July 04, 2001. It is an affiliate of BRAC (Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee),
one of the world’s largest non-governmental development organizations founded by Fazle
Hasan Abed in 1972. It has been the fastest growing Bank in 2004 and 2005. The Bank
operates under a "double bottom line" agenda where profit and social responsibility go
hand in hand as it strives towards a poverty-free, enlightened Bangladesh.
BRAC Bank limited, with institutional shareholdings by BRAC, International Finance
Corporation (IFC) and Shore Cap International, has been the fastest growing Bank in
Bangladesh for the last three consecutive years. In the recent past the bank has gone public
with price of shares reaching impressive heights, further showing promising future.
PRODUCT PROFILE:
BRAC Bank Ltd. is currently focusing on four different areas of business activities. These
are:
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SME Banking
Retail Banking
Retail Distribution
Non Funded Business and Secured Value Center
Alternate Delivery Channel
Unsecured Value Center
Liability
Service Quality/Business Intelligence
Collections
Cross Selling
Regional Distribution
Corporate Banking
Probashi Banking
Cards
Treasury & Financial Institution
Marketing & Corporate Affairs
The businesses directly related to customer service are briefly described in the following
sections:
SME Banking:
BRAC Bank considers the population of Bangladesh the most valuable resource of the
country. According to BRAC Bank, after achieving liberation, the attainment of economic
uplift should be our most important goal. Micro lenders are working here in the financial
field, providing very small amount and on the other hand regular commercial banks have
been providing bigger amount of loans to larger industries and trading organizations. But
the small and medium entrepreneurs were overlooked. This missing middle group is the
small but striving entrepreneurs, who because of lack of fund cannot pursue their financial
uplift, as they have no property to provide as equity to the commercial banks. With this
end in view-BRAC Bank was opened to serve these small but hard working entrepreneurs
with double bottom line vision. As a socially responsible bank, BRAC Bank wants to see
the emancipation of grass-roots level to their economic height and also to make profit by
serving the interest of missing middle groups. 50% of BRAC Bank’s total portfolio
usually collected from urban areas, are channeled to support these entrepreneurs who in
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future will become the potential strength of our economy. The Bank currently is the
market leader in giving loans to Small and Medium Entrepreneurs. It has been doing this
for the last five years. Showing SME Network coverage in the figure below:
SME Products:
Currently BRAC Bank is offering 13 SME packages. These are listed and briefly
explained below:
Anonno Rin- “Anonno Rin” is a business loan designed to finance small scale trading,
manufacturing and service ventures, especially to help small and medium
entrepreneurs to meet their short-term cash flow shortages and bridge the fund-flow
gaps.
Apurbo Rin- Apurbo is a loan facility for Small and Medium business. Apurbo loan
has been designed and targeted for relatively bigger business units requiring loan
above tk. 8 lacs to 30 lacs.
Pathshala Rin- “Pathshala Rin” is a loan designed to meet the needs of small and
medium sized private educational institutions, such as kindergartens, schools and
colleges etc.
Aroggo Rin- “Aroggo” is a loan allowed to various Health service Provider like
private clinics, diagnostics centers and doctors' chambers. The product offers fixed
assets purchase financing under equated Monthly Installments.
Digoon Rin- This is a double loan on clients’ deposits. With this, clients do not need
to encash their savings rather they can take double amount of loan on their deposit for
their business expansion.
Supplier Finance- Supplier finance is a loan facility for the enlisted Suppliers of
various large retailers, marketing companies, distributors, exporters etc. This product’s
main objective is to help various Suppliers to meet their short-term cash flow shortages
or bridge the fund-flow gaps. Amount is minimum BDT 3 lac up to maximum BDT 30
lac.
Prothoma Rin- "PROTHOMA RIN" is a loan facility for small and medium sized
business, which is operated by women entrepreneur. The product offers terminating
loan facilities for the purpose of working capital finance and/or fixed assets purchase.
Loan limit is from minimum BDT 3 lac up to maximum of BDT 9.5 lac.
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BIZNESS Account- “Bizness Account” is an interest bearing current account for sole
proprietorship business Entrepreneur. Opening balance required is only BDT-
10,000.00
Cash Secured Loan- "Cash Secured Loan" is a loan facility for small and medium
sized business. There are two types of loan facility in the product i.e. Secured Loan
and Secured Overdraft. These facilities are fully secured by fixed deposit of BRAC
Bank. Amount is minimum BDT 3 lac up to maximum BDT 30 lac.
BIZNESS Loan- Bizness loan is an equated monthly loan facility for all types of
business who have healthy bank transactions for the purpose of working capital
finance and/or fixed assets purchase. Loan limit is minimum BDT 10 lac to maximum
of BDT 50 lac.
Proshar- "Proshar" is a loan facility for small & medium sized manufacturing
business. The product offers loan facilities for working capital finance and/or fixed
assets purchase.
Trade Plus- Trade plus is a composite facility for small & medium sized import-
oriented businesses to meet their trade finance requirements.
Super Supply Loan- Super Supply Loan is a loan facility for Suppliers of various
large retailers, marketing companies, manufacturing companies and various corporate
houses. This product’s main objective is to help various Suppliers to meet their
financial requirements.
Retail Banking:
There are retail banking products of three categories. One is Loan Products, second is
Deposit Products and the other is Cards. In Loan Products category there are eleven
services/products facilitating clients’ demands. These are: Salary Loan, NoW Loan, Car
Loan, Teacher’s Loan, Study Loan, Travel Loan, Credit Card Loan, Top Up Loan,
HighFlyer Loan, Secured Loan/ OD and Doctor’s Loan.
Under Deposit Products category currently there are ten services/products in total. These
are: Fixed Deposit, Interest First, Abiram Account, DPS, EZee Account, Savings Account,
Short Term Deposit, Current Account, Salary Account and Step Up Fixed Deposit.
Under Cards category there are two types of cards products active. One is ATM Debit
Cards and the other is Co-Branded Cards. ATM Debit Cards facilitates money withdrawal
of up to BDT 20,000.00 per day. Also checking balance statements of ATM and POS
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(Point Of Sale) transactions. The Cards Department provides 24 hour customer support
hotline to resolve queries and problems.
The Co-Branded Cards are from Aarong, ALICO and DIA Gold. The BRAC Bank Aarong
ATM Card gives users 5% cash back facility from shopping in any Aarong outlets. The
holder of BRAC Bank ALICO ATM Card can enjoy a special life insurance facility with
insurance coverage of up to BDT 200,000.00. And BRAC Bank DIA Gold ATM card
holder will enjoy a special cash back and cash discount feature. This feature is 10%
discount from any diamond product bought and 8% discount on making charge of any
gold products bought from DIA Gold.
Corporate Banking:
Corporate Banking section has three types of coverage currently. These are:
1. Corporate Loan Products
2. Trade Financing
3. Corporate Cash Management
Corporate Loan Products:
Corporate Loan Products is offering six services at the moment. The services are listed and
described in the following section:
Overdraft – This is an on-demand credit facility designed to meet day-to-day
operational activities of the business, including purchase of raw materials and
expenses.
Term Loan – Short Term Loan/Revolving Loan: This scheme is to meet different
short-term fund requirements of the client. Payment of duty, Tax, VAT and other
expenses related to the release of goods from customs through pay orders in the name
of customs authority or Bangladesh Bank cheque is payable through this scheme.
Lease Finance – One of the more convenient long-term sources of acquiring capital
machinery and equipment. The client is given an opportunity to have exclusive rights
to use an asset, for an agreed period of time, against payment of rent.
Loan Against Trust Receipt (LATR) – This is advancement against a Trust Receipt
provided to the client when the documents covering an import shipment are given
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without payment. Under this system, the client will hold the goods of their sale
proceeds in trust for the bank, until the loan allowed against the Trust Receipt is fully
paid.
Work Order Finance – BRAC Bank provides Work Order finance facility for its
valued clients. Through this arrangement, clients can avail loan facilities against valid
Work Orders up to a certain proportion.
Medium Enterprise - The products offered under this sort of financing are versatile in
nature and each product is tailored according to the need of the borrower, under certain
parameters. The range of organizations this sort of financing caters to include
proprietorship concerns, private limited companies, educational institutions as well as
NGOs.
The purpose of this unit is to serve medium enterprises having facility requirements
like a large corporate in nature, but smaller in volumes. The facilities may range from
a single-funded or non-funded limit to a composite credit facility that includes various
corporate products. The Bank believes that the emerging medium enterprise of today is
tomorrow’s large corporate that will facilitate the true growth of the nation.
Trade Finance:
Letter of Credit (LC): This facility is related to import or local purchase of different
items. It is also provided for the import and export of goods (such as raw materials,
machinery, equipment, any trading item).
Letter of Guarantee (LG): To meet different contractual requirement such as
participating in Bid, Performance Guarantee and Advance Payment guarantee for
different contractual requirements.
Corporate Cash Management:
NCS – BRAC Bank will collect clients’ bills through their Bills Pay Machines in the
strategic locations of the city and also at the correspondent branches, where the BRAC
Bank branches are not available and at the booths.
PTS – PTS will allow clients to disburse all kinds of payments anywhere in the
country through BRAC Bank’s own branch network in Dhaka, Chittagong, Sylhet,
Savar, Feni and the partner bank branches all over the country.
Advantages to Employers – BRAC Bank provides services such as Salary Upload,
Multi-Location Salary, payroll management, MIS on payroll etc. Salary Upload
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facility requires a consolidated cheque of the total salary amount and a break-up of the
disbursements to the employees in soft and hard copy format, BRAC Bank will do the
rest. Multi-Location Salary features salary disbursal in multiple locations within
BRAC Bank network. Payroll MIS creates standard reports for corporate clients with
neatness and conciseness.
Advantages to Employees – Along with all other Retail Banking services, employees
can avail 24 Hour Banking through ATMs, Online Banking, Extended Banking Hours
till 8:00 PM except for Thursdays and Fridays and Payday Overdraft on request for
emergency situations (this is adjusted with the employee’s following month’s salary).
Cash Management Services – BRAC Bank's national Collection Services (NCS) is
designed to assist corporate with nationwide collection requirements by providing
faster funds availability in a cost- effective manner.
Cash Collection Services - Through BRAC Bank Cash Collection Services they
collect cash directly from clients offices/business premises. The whole process is
arranged with executive logistic services.
Drop Box Facility - On request, BRAC Bank can install Drop Box at customer’s
office which can be used for depositing cheques or any instruction. Their
representative will visit client’s office and clear the box every day.
Probashi Banking:
Our nation’s workforce who are away from their families, relatives, friend and above all,
from breathing the air of our country, working abroad for the prosperity of their lives and
the nation in the long run while sacrificing a lot. BRAC Bank, through Probashi Banking
services, is facilitating the banking needs of remitters. Currently BRAC Bank is providing
six services for remitters under Probashi Banking. These products/services are described
below:
Probashi Current Account – It is ideal for Probashi Bangladeshis who do not wish to
earn interest due to religious reasons. This account also comes with cheque book and
ATM card and is ideal for regular transaction.
Probashi Savings Account – This account provides interest which is paid in June and
December of each year. This account comes with a cheque book and ATM Card and is
ideal for Probashi Bangladeshis who want to save. Accounts are maintained in Taka.
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Probashi DPS – Is a savings scheme specially designed for the Probashi clients. This
service requires monthly installment of minimum Tk. 500.00 and any multiples.
Provides a savings account with a personalized cheque book, earnings remitted to
savings account will be automatically transferred on the due dates and loans are
provided against 90% of deposited amount.
Probashi Fixed Deposit – A fixed deposit account allows remitters to deposit their
money for a set-period of time, thereby earning them a higher rate of interest in return.
Fixed Deposits can be made from 3 months to 3 years. Interest is paid on the maturity
at a very attractive rate. Accounts are maintained in Taka.
Probashi Abiram – Probashi Abiram is a Fixed Deposit which is ideal for Probashies
who want to get a return every month. If one has sufficient funds, this can be made
into a fixed deposit from 1 year to 3 years and interest will be paid every month on
their Savings Account automatically. This is ideal for customers who want to pay their
DPS installments. Accounts are maintained in Taka.
Probashi Shubidha (NRB Beneficiary) Account – This is a specialized account for
Non-Resident Bangladeshis where the remitter can open an account for the
Beneficiary. The beneficiary can then avail all the services offered by BRAC Bank
such as: SMS Banking, Phone Banking, Internet Banking etc. When the beneficiary’s
account is setup, the Remitter just requires the account number, and amount of money
to be sent to make a safe, fast and efficient transaction. Transaction is completed
within 6 hours of receiving instructions.
MARKET STATUS:
BRAC Bank wants to build a profitable and socially responsible financial institution. It
carefully listen to the market and business potentials, It is also assisting BRAC and
stakeholders to build a progressive, healthy, democratic and poverty free Bangladesh. It
helps make communities and economy of the country stronger and to help people achieve
their financial goals. The bank maintains a high level of standards in everything for our
customers, our shareholders, our acquaintances and our communities upon, which the
future affluence of our company rests.
According to the Half-Yearly Financial Statement of 2010- the number of Employees
including contractual engaged for the whole year or part there of (who received a total
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yearly remuneration of Tk. 36,000 or above) were 6,306 where as the total number of
employees were 7,075 as the same period of pervious year.
BRAC Bank, a fully operational Commercial Bank, focuses on pursuing unexplored
market niches in the Small and Medium Enterprise Business, which hitherto has remained
largely untapped within the country. In the last five years of operation, the Bank has
disbursed over BDT 2200 crore in loans to nearly 50,000 small and medium entrepreneurs
in 2007. And this year Bank’s disbursement plan is BDT 4100 crore. The management of
the Bank believes that this sector of the economy can contribute the most to the rapid
generation of employment in Bangladesh. Since inception in July 2001, the Bank's
footprint has grown to 36 branches, more than 400 SME unit offices and 38 ATM sites
across the country, and the customer base has expanded to 200,000 deposit and 45,000
advance accounts through 2006. In 2005, BRAC Bank had a $178 million portfolio
consisting of around 21,000 loans with an average loan size of $8,000. It has around 400
regionally-placed loan processing units offering services in the heart of rural and urban
communities and employs over 700 business loan officers – around 60% of total staff.
In addition to small business lending, BRAC Bank has fast growing remittance, savings
mobilization and consumer lending businesses. In the years ahead BRAC Bank expects to
introduce many more services and products as well as add a wider network of SME unit
offices, Retail Branches and ATMs across the country.
International Finance Corporation:
BBL has important international shareholdings apart from BRAC: IFC and Shore Cap.
International Finance Corporation (IFC) is the commercial wing of World Bank. Using
certain channels and overseas representatives, IFC helps local financial institutions find
profitable ways to target small and medium sized companies. Funding comes from the
Asian Development Bank, Canada, the European Commission, the Netherlands, Norway,
the United Kingdom and IFC itself.
IFC is a 9.5% shareholder in BBL. A new assistance program signed in August 2005 aims
to double the bank’s number of small and medium enterprise clients in 18 months through
campaigns to target women entrepreneurs and rural clients, introduce new products and
train branch managers.
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Shore Cap International Ltd:
Another international institutional investor Shore Cap International Ltd. is an international
private non-profit, equity company seeking to invest in small business banks and regulated
micro finance institutions in countries with developing and transitional economies. Shore
Cap typically invests between $500,000 and $2 million for an ownership position of 10-
25% of a company. As a minority shareholder, Shore Cap seeks financial institutions with
a strong, experienced management team and a committed set of local development-minded
investors. Shore Cap currently owns 8.75% of BBL’s shareholdings.
BUSINESS LEVEL STRATEGY PURSUED:
In business level, BRAC Bank uses differentiation strategy. After analyzing their business
level activities we have come up with these analyses:
Customer group & market segmentation
BRAC Bank has different loan & deposit products for different customer groups. Amongst
the three product lines- SME, Retail & Corporate, we are excluding corporate products
because these products are customized, almost on a per-client basis. SME, which is the
biggest profit earner for this bank has mostly loan products. These products are
customized based on the size of the clients business. Based on the business size, the
customers are divided into small business & medium business. In Retail product line, the
market segmentation is done mainly based on social class & profession. BRAC Bank first
tries to figure out whether a product will be attractive for a specific profession/class or not.
Then they try to customize & design the product to better meet customer needs.
Customer needs & product differentiation
BRAC Bank offers different products for different market segments. When a customer
comes for loans, BRAC Bank tries to sort out which category the customer fits in. Then
the customer is offered their specific product but if the customer qualifies for some other
products then he is left with the final choice. Also upon customers request BRAC Bank
further customizes their products on special cases.
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Distinctive competency
BRAC Bank developed their distinctive competency over its competitors by using
extensive IT. A bank needs rigorous reporting everyday. BRAC Bank has to generate a lot
of reports like compliance report for the Central bank, internal reports for the top
management and auditor's reports. Also the institutional investors need reports to realize
how the bank is doing. The base data for all these reports are generated by Finacle, BRAC
Bank core banking software. Then these data are formatted as required by different
stakeholders.
BRAC Bank has a strong backbone network connecting all its branches with the central
branch. At the end of the all the daily transactions on all branches are synchronized with
the central bank & the end-of-the-day procedure is run from the central server as well.
IMPACT OF BUSINESS LEVEL STRATEGY ON PERFORMANCE:
To evaluate the impact of business level strategy on performance of BBL, we will observe
some specific performance variables and their growth over six financial periods. The
performance indicators are:
Loans and advances,
Total Deposit,
Cost of Fund (COF),
Return on Investment (ROI),
Net Income (NI) Ratio,
Return on Assets (ROA),
Total Asset, and
Operating Profit.
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Loans and advances:
Loans and Advances increased by BDT 20,152 million or 31.41% in the year 2010. This is
a result of continued growth in the lending business and solid growth in the banking
Industry, reflecting the focus on customers and profitable growth.
Total Deposit:
Customer deposits of the Bank grew by 17.20% in 2010 which was the slowest growth
over the period of years. The Bank ended the year with total customer deposits of BDT
88,158 million, compared to 75,220 million in the year 2009. The growth rate of deposit
has increased at decreasing rate. Currently, the Bank's deposits mostly comprise of term
deposits. Almost 39% of the total deposits are in the form of fixed deposits, whereas only
18% and 23% are in the form of current and savings deposits respectively.
Cost of Fund (COF):
BBL has achieved a total profit after tax of Tk. 1,664 million in 2010, which is 27.7%
higher than last year. The operating profit was Tk. 4,969 million which posted a 33.7%
growth. The higher growth of profit highlights an increased efficiency of the Bank's
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operations. The Bank's total assets stood at Tk. 119,150 million with a 25.3% growth and
total customers' deposits stood at Tk. 88,158 million with a 17.2% growth. Moreover, cost
of deposit has decreased by 2%, in effect increasing interest margin with a positive impact
on the bottom line. COF rate was the lowest from the previous years.
Return on Investment (ROI):
BRAC Bank enjoys a favorable return on investment from 2007-2009 but in 2010 the
investment return fall to 9%. The increased in ROI to 11.64% as on December 31, 2007
was due to a sharp increment in the year 2004 but deal came to an end in 2010 and does
the effect.
Net Income (NI) Ratio:
The percentage growth of Net income after tax is increasing at a decreasing rate as its
calculation is effect by the increase and decrease of the operating expenses. Operating
expenses have increased by 29% in 2010.
Total Asset:
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Total assets of the Bank rose to BDT 119,150 million in 2010, from BDT 95,127 million
in 2009- registering a growth of 25%. The figure shows a significant increase in total
assets because loans and advances, investments, fixed assets and cash assets maintained by
the Bank increased. The growth rate of BBL total assets after 2008 has increased at a
decreased rate.
Operating Profit:
Despite some challenges, BBL operating profit of BDT 4,969 million- 34% higher than
that of last year.
SWOT ANALYSIS OF BRAC BANK LIMITED:
SWOT analysis means analyzing the strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats of the
Organization to know the present condition. This is very common analysis to determine
the company’s capabilities of doing effective business. This help to know the possible
advantages and disadvantages of the firm that it has compare to compare to others. Here is
the SWOT analysis of BRAC Bank:
Strengths
Wide range of service line
Online Banking Services
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Excellent working environment
The bank is providing modern services like ATM, on line banking, SWIT facilities,
SMS Banking.
The banking service is easily accessible and feasible
Efficient and skilled workforce
Higher profitability
The bank launched several deposit schemes, which have been appreciated by the
Consumers resulting growth of deposit of the bank.
Huge business area
The bank has earned customer loyalty as well as organizational loyalty. The bank has
also control in maintain quality services to its clients.
BRAC Bank Ltd. has a long-term reputation in the banking industry as it is one of the
promising players in the industry. So, their enduring good will in the field works as a
vital strength.
It’s one of the important strength is its big portion of share as it provides security to
the customers. They feel reliable to deal with this bank and usually do not switch.
BRAC Bank Ltd has a good number of corporate customers. They have clients from
all small, medium and big enterprises. This is because of the reliability they provide to
their customers.
The bank also provides all their services at a very low rate. As a result people of all
status can easily become a client of the bank.
They have qualified and experienced human resources who are highly committed to
their customers.
It has sophisticated automated banking system in most of its branches which foster the
overall banking activity.
They have excellent management system to integrate all the branches with the head
office.
Weaknesses
Lack of proper motivation, training and job rotation
Limited workforce compare to competitors
Lack of clearly define marketing objective
Limited number of branches
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Lack of promotional objectives and strategies
Lack of implementing more equipped IT technology
Fund is getting costlier and getting access to the fund is also becoming more difficult
Lack of experienced employees in junior level management.
Lack of motivation among the workers.
Heavy dependency on Head Office in decision making sometimes slower the work
process.
Lack of extrinsic and intrinsic reward & incentives for the employees from
management sometimes result to job burnout.
High dependency on ‘word of mouth’ strategy.
Opportunities
As the economy of Bangladesh is gradually boosting up and many industries are
performing better, there is always an opportunity of market growth. So, it is up to BRAC
bank to garb these opportunities with open arms. Traditionally the state owned and foreign
banks have been very keen to exploit these openings. Then again it is the correct strategy;
hence the efficient marketing mix of seven can play a crucial role in this regard. LC, credit
Openings to take market share away from rival firms services, corporate banking etc can
be very handy for BRAC bank in this regard.
Openings to exploit emerging new technologies in banking
With the advancement of technologies many new opportunities have also blessed the
banking sector worldwide. Bangladesh has also started to feel the wave of new
technologies. BRAC bank should size these opportunities specially credit card, telephone
banking, SMS banking, electronic money transfer etc. These new products of It revolution
can be very handy for BRAC bank in pursuit of a fast growth. Already, the ATM facilities
and tele-banking are proving their worth and more of these techno related services will
definitely add flexibility and diversification in services.
Serving additional customer groups and expanding geographic coverage and service
segments
BRAC bank can expand rapidly at the district towns and important rural business centers.
This move can secure them a stable client base without much competition as the state
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owned banks are mostly enjoying this opportunity. Also expanding in the remote areas can
help BRAC bank to obtain more profit against less competition like the metropolitan cites.
Beside that the already established positive image of BRAC NGO can play crucial role in
this regard. Also the BRAC NGO can help BRAC bank initially with its financial
activities.
Planning to go global
There is always a possibility of reaching the international customers. As BRAC Ngo has
extended its operation in Afghanistan, BRAC bank might consider expanding globally
with the NGO. But the precaution should be only countries with low concentration foreign
banks should be targeted. The presence of BRAC Ngo can work as catalyst in a foreign
country.
Comprehensive services
BRAC bank can provide diversified financial services. Organizations and people need
different sorts of financial services from time to time like banking, insurance, stock broker
services, money transfer etc. Becoming one stop solution for all financial services will
only enhance the possibilities that the clients are that corporate or individual will be
relying on BRAC bank heavily. Definitely if properly implemented diversification in
financial services are bound to provide a good return for BRAC bank.
Ability to take advantage of learning and experience curve effects
Learning and experience curve effect are the result of continuous repetition and large
volume of services rendered. If things go like now for BRAC bank within a few years
learning and experience curve effects will definitely drive down the cost. As a result the
overall cost structure will be lower and the gross profit margin will increase. Thus BRAC
bank will be more financially stronger.
Threats
Increasing bargaining power of the customer
As more banks are starting operation in Bangladesh, more the banking sector is getting
fragmented and thus customers are gaining more bargaining power over the banks. Today
high profile customers have all the rights to break away from the relationship with
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Standard & Chartered bank and go to HSBC or Citi bank N.A. This rise in bargaining
power of customers is a threat to BRAC bank which puts pressure for improved services at
minimum cost. As a result there are possibilities in reduction of gross profit.
Number of potential new competitors is increasing
In every year on average three new banks are coming up which is intensifying the
competition. To make the matter worse the metropolitan areas are becoming denser with a
branch of 4-5 different banks side by side. A downward economic situation may make the
chance of survival slim due to presence of lot of banks.
New regulations of the central bank
This threat is always on cards as the central bank is the most powerful authority in the
banking sector. Suppose a sudden change in required reserve ratio can squeeze the money
available to BRAC bank. Again the concretionary monetary policy currently adopted by
the central bank has already made the investment lower than the beginning of this decade.
Government's new rules and policy
Government is the legitimate source of power and is able to change anything overnight.
So, there is always a threat that Government can jeopardize the operation of BRAC bank.
Also Government can force to reduce the interest rates and reduce the salary of the top
management. As a result Government always remains at side of becoming a source of
negative impact.
Strong presence of international banks
Even before BRAC bank came to life the foreign banks like HSBC, Citi N.A, and
Standard & Chartered were here. They have more financial might than BRAC bank.
Beside that due to long presence and good reputation the foreign banks are currently
enjoying a clear upper hand. Also being early movers they are relatively nicely poised to
attack BRAC bank in many ways. So, obviously the presences of the foreign banks are a
big threat for BRAC bank.
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POSSIBLE MEASURES TO IMPROVE PERFORMANCE:
There are a lot of banks now in Bangladesh and customers now have lots of options.
So a bank should do everything possible for them to do to retain its customers.
In the branches of BBL there should be more number of service stations for
withdrawing and depositing money so that it reduces the customer waiting time.
There should be more efficient capital management and investment analysts appointed
so that idle money does not remain in the bank.
They should frequently keep their conscious observation to monitor that the ATM
machines in all the booths are usable and adequate cash is there.
They should increase their ATM booths substantially in order to compete with its
competitors.
They should update the information in the website in a regular basis.
BBL should increase the space in the branch offices as their client size is increasing
day by day and also introduce new branches in various places of the country for
expansion.
The managers should be sent to different training programs on aregular basis to
improve their knowledge base which would help them to improve their efficiency.
Employees of BRAC Bank should be provided a better salary package in order to keep
them otherwise they may switch to another job for higher salary.
Management should be more decentralized to provide faster services to the clients.
In order to remain as the market leading company they shouldemphasize much on
retain the existing customer base and also should try to attract new customers.
In the loan approval procedure the evaluation of creditworthiness of the clients should
be more authoritarian in order to reduce the chance of defaulter.
SME loan of BRAC Bank has already gained popularity to the businesspeople but
there is an objection about the interest rate where the bank should be more aware and
also try to decrease the interest rate. Because of higher rate of interest defaulter rate
may increase which would ultimately affect the profitability of the bank.
Some customers said that the service charges of BRAC bank are comparatively
higher than other bank so it should be reduced if possible. Otherwise it can be a threat
for the bank in future.
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CONCLUDING REMARKS
BRAC Bank Limited has gained a positive image in the mind of the people in Bangladesh
and this is reflected in the growth and performance of the bank in the last few years.
BRAC Bank’s steady rise to the top as the fastest growing bank in the country intends to
lead the bank towards the achievement of its ultimate objectives and goals in compliance
with its vision. This bank has a strong financial base and huge assets to meet up its
liabilities which make this organization financially sound and solvent. The management of
this bank is outfitted with expert and efficient bankers and managers who delicately serve
the bank. They work for the betterment of the bank as a team. According to the study the
performance of this bank is noticeable. In this study to evaluate the financial performance
of this bank various financial parameters were considered and BRAC Bank was found as a
fast growing bank and simultaneously performing well in almost all the areas. To keep
with this pace of growth and improvement they now should more vigilant on what their
customers want and should be more vigilant while giving loans to the clients in order to
reduce the defaulter rate.
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