Deposits in No-Frill Accounts stood at Tk5,116 crore in the October–December quarter of 2025, up 2.65 per cent from the previous quarter, according to Bangladesh Bank data.
Bangladesh Bank considers NFAs a key instrument to expand financial inclusion among underserved groups, although it said account growth remains modest and urged banks to set branch-level NFA targets linked to performance metrics.
NFAs allow low-income groups, school students under 18 and street children to open accounts with initial deposits of Tk10, Tk50 or Tk100 under the central bank’s financial inclusion initiatives.
Garment worker accounts recorded notable expansion, with total accounts reaching 12.25 lakh in December 2025, up 18.13 per cent year-on-year.
Deposits in garment worker accounts stood at Tk477 crore, rising 29.76 per cent from a year earlier, while cumulative foreign remittances received through these accounts reached Tk827 crore by December 2025.
Farmer accounts increased to 1.063 crore as of December 2025, with deposits amounting to Tk808 crore, marking a 10.64 per cent year-on-year rise.
Accounts opened for the extreme poor rose to 34.8 lakh, up 1.63 per cent from the previous quarter and 4.61 per cent from December 2024.
Deposits in these accounts grew 6.89 per cent quarter-on-quarter and 11.76 per cent year-on-year to Tk277.78 crore.
Government Social Safety Net beneficiary accounts remained the largest component of NFAs.
The number of SSN accounts rose 0.84 per cent from the previous quarter and 3.91 per cent from December 2024 to 1.084 crore in December, with deposits increasing 5.16 per cent quarter-on-quarter to Tk1,807 crore.
School Banking Accounts reached 49.3 lakh in December 2025, up 2.62 per cent from the previous quarter and 11.34 per cent year-on-year.
Fifty-nine banks were operating SBAs as of December 2025, with deposits totalling Tk2,143.9 crore, while private commercial banks held 67.48 per cent of total SBAs.
Eighteen banks opened 40,670 Street Urchin Accounts through 49 non-governmental organisations, with total deposits reaching Tk34.39 lakh at the end of the reporting quarter.
State-owned commercial banks dominated the NFA segment, opening 1.48 crore accounts or 50.48 per cent of the total as of December 2025, followed by private commercial banks with 25.25 per cent and specialised banks with 24.27 per cent.
The top five banks in terms of NFA account deposits were Agrani Bank, Sonali Bank, Bank Asia, Islami Bank and Global Islami Bank.
Agrani Bank Managing Director Md Anwarul Islam said the bank had instructed branches to ensure that no one leaves without opening an account unless there is a valid reason, which contributed to deposit growth.
Bank Asia Managing Director Sohail RK Hussain told TIMES that the bank installed automated teller machines in some garment factories to enable garment workers to access their accounts from work.
“The integrated mobile financial services also help the clients,” he said.
“However, awareness remains an issue, and we need to work more on that,” he added.
“For serving farmers, agent banking is our top priority. We already have 70 lakh customers in agent banking, and we are taking initiatives to double that number,” he added.
He said agent banking builds trust as agents live within the community and allows flexible hours based on customer convenience.
