Bangladesh Bank has warned commercial banks after receiving complaints from customers that bank branches are discouraging investors from purchasing national savings certificates.
In a directive issued to commercial banks, the central bank said it had recently received complaints from customers alleging that scheduled banks, despite being listed to sell savings certificates, were discouraging them from investing in the instruments through various processes.
The central bank advised banks to keep savings certificate-related activities under regular supervision and said that, in accordance with Article 3 of the Savings Certificates Rules, 1977, banks acting as issuing offices must provide full cooperation to investors seeking to purchase savings certificates.
Banks have also been instructed to display procedures for receiving customers’ immediate complaints in a visible location at branch level and to take prompt action in response to such complaints.
Although customers can purchase savings certificates through commercial banks, allegations of customer harassment in the process are longstanding. As a result, most buyers preferred to invest in savings certificates through Bangladesh Bank’s Motijheel office.
As processing times were faster and customers expressed satisfaction with the quality of service, the number of investors at Bangladesh Bank increased steadily. The central bank eventually allocated an entire floor to savings certificate sales services.
During the interim government’s tenure, Bangladesh Bank discontinued a number of public service activities, including savings certificate-related services, in November 2025.
