Transactions normal, depositors of five banks can withdraw money

This information was obtained after searching banks' branches in various parts of the country, including the capital Dhaka, on Thursday (January 1).

Many branches of the five banks have already changed their signboards and put up banners in the name of the newly formed Sammilit Islami Bank. The merged banks are Exim Bank, Social Islami Bank, First Security Islami Bank, Global Islami Bank and Union Bank.

Bank officials said that normal transactions have resumed from today. In addition to depositing money, ordinary customers can withdraw up to two lakh taka under deposit insurance.

Meanwhile, depositors are expressing relief at being able to withdraw money after a long time. Asif Rahman, a customer who came to withdraw money at the Dhanmondi branch of First Security Islami Bank in the capital, said, "It feels great to be able to withdraw money after a long wait. This money was very important to me."

How much money can depositors withdraw?

Bangladesh Bank has finalized a scheme to protect the interests of depositors. The money of ordinary customers who have deposits up to two lakh taka will be completely protected. Under the 'Deposit Protection Act', this money can be withdrawn in full at any time.

And those with more than two lakh taka in their accounts can withdraw a maximum of one lakh taka every three months for two years.

However, the scheme has special benefits for depositors above 60 years of age or those suffering from serious diseases like cancer and kidney dialysis. They can withdraw their deposit amount up to or beyond the prescribed limit for their medical needs.

Earlier, under the merger process, all types of current, savings and fixed deposits of the five banks, along with their movable and immovable assets, liabilities and debts, and all previous contracts were transferred to the merged Islami Bank.

On Tuesday (December 30), Bangladesh Bank issued a notification in this regard. Bangladesh Bank said that the money of the banks' customers will be completely safe. In addition, customers will be able to withdraw deposits up to 2 lakh taka. Those who do not withdraw their deposits now will get market-based profits and, if necessary, can take loans against their deposits. In addition, customers will be able to withdraw their deposits.

Bangladesh Bank said that all current, savings and fixed deposits of the five banks have now come under the umbrella of Sammilit Islami Bank. Fixed deposits cannot be withdrawn before the end of the specified period. However, depositors will be able to take a maximum of 20 percent loan or investment facility against their existing deposits. And in the case of newly deposited deposits, there will be a maximum of 80 percent loan or investment facility.

In addition, officers and employees working in the five banks who do not have any complaints or cases against them will automatically be added as officers and employees of Sammilit Islami Bank.

Subject to the approval of Bangladesh Bank, the board of directors of the new bank will be able to redefine the terms and conditions of employment if necessary. However, if someone expresses their desire not to serve in writing, they will have the opportunity to resign.

According to the Bank Resolution-2025, the central bank has stated that from the date of implementation of the resolution scheme, all banking documents in the name of the transferred banks will remain valid until Bangladesh Bank or any authorized authority issues new instructions. That is, all types of banking documents including checkbooks, deposit slips, withdrawal slips, vouchers, forms, receipts, applications, etc. printed or used in the name of the previous bank will now be considered as approved and valid documents of the transferee bank.

Simply put, customers will not have any problems obtaining or replacing new documents for the time being; normal banking activities can be carried out using documents from their previous bank.

Bangladesh Bank said that under the new management, customers' deposits will be completely safe and transactions will continue as usual. This resolution process is an important reform initiative to restore confidence in the banking sector.

The new bank will strengthen risk management and good governance to ensure transparency and accountability. These reforms are being implemented under the direct supervision of the central bank. The financial sector regulator hopes that this will restore depositor confidence and make the entire financial sector more stable.

Sammilit Islami Bank has an authorized capital of Tk 40,000 crore, of which Tk 35,000 crore is paid-up capital. The government has provided Tk 20,000 crore of the paid-up capital.

The remaining 15,000 crore taka of fixed deposits of banks and finance companies and other institutional deposits will be converted into capital through share issue. However, educational institutions, religious institutions, hospitals, provident funds, joint ventures, multinational companies and foreign embassies will not fall under this provision.

During the last Awami League government, a few influential groups fraudulently withdrew huge amounts of loans from dozens of banks. Under the pressure of these irregularities and loan scams, the banks gradually fell into deep crisis. Among them, these Sharia-based Islamic banks fell into deep crisis. Financial losses occurred due to lack of good governance, irregularities and fraud in these banks. Although Bangladesh Bank provided liquidity support to these banks for more than a year to deal with the situation, the desired improvement did not occur.

As a result, to protect the interests of depositors and ensure financial stability, administrators were appointed to manage these banks on November 5 as per the Bank Resolution Ordinance-2025. Later, the five banks were merged to form Sammilit Islami Bank. According to Bangladesh Bank, the five banks currently have deposits of about 1 lakh 42 thousand crore taka from 7.5 lakh depositors. On the other hand, there are loans of 1 lakh 93 thousand crore taka, a large part of which has already become defaulters.

These banks have 760 branches, 698 sub-branches, 511 agent banking outlets and 975 ATM booths across the country. After the merger, multiple branches in the same area will be merged into one or two. In order to reduce the operational costs of the banks, the salaries and allowances of the employees have already been reduced by 20 percent.