Prime Bank wins AsiaMoney's Best Digital Bank award

Prime Bank Ltd has won the Best Digital Bank award given by the Hong Kong-based financial publication Asiamoney.

The publication, established in 1989, lauded the significant progress Prime Bank is making on the digitisation across both tech-enabled services and cybersecurity frontiers, announcing the award on its website recently.

"AsiaMoney’s prestigious Best Bank Awards are seen as the benchmark for the leading firms in financial services in the region, and are fiercely contested across numerous markets and categories," the bank said in the statement.

Past winners in this category of ‘Best Digital Bank’ in respective country include UOB in Singapore, Rakuten Bank in Japan, HDFC Bank in India and Standard Chartered in Hong Kong.

Prime Bank’s unique digital proposition includes PrimeDigi which has been successful in wooing tech-savvy millennials, state-of-the-art internet banking, Altitude, which has witnessed overwhelming subscriptions during Covid-19, the latest technology enabled ATMs and the best in class contact centre.

The bank is about to embark on agent banking, exclusive financial initiative for women and voice banking — which all are to be fully aligned with the digital transformation roadmap.

On receiving the precious recognition, Prime Bank Managing Director and CEO Rahel Ahmed said,"The banking industry in Bangladesh continues to transform with a light physical and high digital strategy and we remain committed to giving our clients the best experience.

"Using digital, we are empowering our clients to bank through the channels they prefer and in a manner that is simpler, more convenient and easily accessible. Winning Asiamoney’s Best Digital Bank Award is great encouragement to us, and testament to the strides we’ve made in re-imagining the future of banking.”

On the upcoming digital services that the customers should be excited about, Rahel said, "As a tech-savvy bank, Prime Bank remains in the forefront of innovative solutions aided with new technology and fintech solutions. Prime Bank’s unique digital proposition includes PrimeDigi which has been successful in wooing tech-savvy millennials, state-of –the-art Internet Banking – Altitude – which has witnessed overwhelming subscription during COVID-19, latest-technology enabled ATM and  best in class Contact Center."

"The bank is about to embark on Agent Banking, exclusive financial solutions for women and Voice Banking, which all are be fully aligned with digital transformation roadmap."

Addressing the progress in digital banking in the country, Rahel pointed out that the process is "still at its infancy" in the country compared to the Western world.

"...but industry experts believe that it is expected to take full flight in few years time with paperless, signatureless and even branchless banking. E-KYC, biometric identification, artificial intelligence, machine learning has sped up journey of digital banking."

"In the last few years, the banking sector has gradually started progress in digital banking. Most of the banks now run centralised core banking solutions, possess apps and provide realtime banking giving the customers the liberty to do banking anytime anywhere," he added while highlighting the significant progress in internet banking, e-commerce, ATM, mobile financial services. 

Rahel, the youngest executive at the helm of a bank, underscored the 'remarkable digital penetration' in Bangladesh that is facilitating the progress of digital banking.

"With more than 160 million mobile subscribers and more than 100 million internet users, Bangladesh is a land of promise in the field of digital innovation. This remarkable digital penetration, which is one of highest in South Asia, epitomises Digital Bangladesh vision of the government."

On whether apps, internet banking, cards and ADC solutions can challenge brick and mortar model of banking in future, Rahel said, "In the coming years, banks will invest significantly on Apps, internet banking, cards and ADC solutions to expand digital banking. Still we see in the western world that they are maintaining the branches. So, we think physical and digital both channels will be needed to cover the entire population and geography."

The Prime Bank CEO also revealed that the institution is also planning to launch an agent banking service.

"We will promote e-loans, e-credit and nano-lending to take banking to the unbanked segment of the population at the nook and corner of the country. Only recently, in a first for Bangladesh, Prime Bank has launched collateral-free small-ticket loan for ICT and e-commerce startups, that won whole-hearted appreciation from the government and industry."

"Women-centric banking proposition and Agent Banking will be introduced soon to further reach out to the grassroots level across the country."

To cater to today's internet-savvy, mobile-phone-crazed youth, Prime Bank has introduced PrimeDiGi, the first digital savings account in Bangladesh for that demographic providing smart banking service of their liking, according to Rahel.

"At present, 60 percent of Bangladesh’s population is between 15 and 45 years old. By 2025, it will make up an estimated 66 percent.  With the help of digital platform (PrimeDiGi), they can open a bank account at their convenience - anytime, anywhere."

"They do not need to come to a branch and no need for initial deposit. Internet Banking, Attitude, provides easy fund transfer facilities through NPSB, BEFTN and RTGS. PrimeDiGi is the core of the bank’s strategy to stay at the forefront of an industry evolving at blistering speed."

With the rapid digital transformation of the banking sector, the focus is increasingly turning to cybersecurity measures to protect customers.

Asked how Prime Bank plans to safeguard customers interests under the circumstances, Rahel said: "As the custodian of deposits’ money, Prime Bank puts highest emphasis and efforts in ensuring security of the assets of the valued customers.

"We continue to aware customers not to share A/C No, Debit/Credit Card No, username, password, PIN Number, CVV, OTP, Verification Code to anyone through various campaigns. With two-factor authentication and SMS verification, our Internet Banking Service - ALTITUDE - is equipped with the state-of-the-art security features to ensure safety and security of the assets of the customers. We will continue to harness our systems with latest security solutions to safeguard our systems and keep the fraudsters at bay."