International Journal of Finance & Banking Studies

Financial inclusion, especially the adoption of fintech, has emerged as a crucial avenue for removing the financial access divides in developing countries, including Bangladesh. Following the comprehensive analysis, this article intends to outline Bangladesh's recent experiences with fintech-based financial inclusion, identify the short-comings and hence make policy suggestions. Being a descriptive research, cross-sectional and observational research approaches are applied for the explanatory analysis of secondary data. Results suggest an urban-rural gap in the implementation of digital financial services, with urban areas consistently having higher rates of fully online branches and a greater number of financial machines. Despite this, the sharp rise in the issuance of active cards is a positive sign suggesting an expansion of consumer base and an adoption of electronic modes of payment. Moreover, inter-bank electronic fund transfers and online banking have experienced increasing uptake, revealing a progressing trend towards digital transactions within the banking industry. Additionally, the study identifies a speedy growth in the number of mobile financial services accounts in both urban and rural areas. This study adds to the exchange of ideas regarding financial inclusion by carrying out a detailed study of Bangladesh's digital financial transformation, exemplifying the accomplishments, obstacles, and future research directions. It highlights the need for targeted policies and ongoing research efforts to build inclusive financial systems to serve the entire society’s interest. Nevertheless, the observations will have both theoretical and practical significance, contributing towards building capability in harnessing technology for sustainability, community uplifting, and shaping a brighter future.  

This paper aims to examine the financial performance of Bangladeshi listed commercial banks. The study analyzed the financial performances of banks categorized into three generations—first, second, and third—based on their year of commencement of operations in the country. The data of a total of 24 banks, 8 from each generation, listed in the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), has been collected from audited financial statements for the time period of 13 years, from 2010 to 2022. Data has been analyzed using different ratios of profitability, liquidity, capital adequacy, operational efficiency, and credit risk. The ANOVA test also has been used to make a comparison of profitability—the return on assets (ROA), and return on equity (ROE) of the banks of different generations. According to the results, the average profitability ratios in terms of ROA, and ROE of the second-generation banks showed their credibility than banks of other generations; while first generation banks kept higher liquidity, and capital adequacy with higher credit risk than the banks of other generations. The first-generation banks also showed a lower cost-expense ratio, and a higher efficiency in terms of operation, than the banks in the second and third generations. The research also discovered that the profitability of banks of different generations significantly varies from one another.  

This study examines the correlation between industry-specific loan disbursement and profitability in the banking sector of Bangladesh, with a particular focus on the influence of targeted lending on profitability. The study examines the impact of different variables such as total assets, total revenue, non-performing loans, and sector-specific loans (agricultural, transportation, construction, textile, pharmaceuticals, and food procurement), on profit after tax (PAT) by analyzing data from 41 commercial banks between 2009 and 2022. By employing various techniques such as Pooled Ordinary Least Squares (POLS), Two-Stage Least Squares (2SLS), and the Generalized Method of Moments (GMM), we have determined that total assets have a noteworthy adverse effect on PAT in both POLS and 2SLS models. Conversely, construction loans have a positive influence on PAT in these models. The total revenue consistently has a favorable effect on the profit after tax (PAT) in all models. In the GMM model, transportation loans and textile loans have a notable adverse effect on PAT, but pharmaceutical loans have a slight favorable effect. The presence of non-performing loans, total loans, agricultural loans, and food procurement loans does not have a substantial impact on the profitability after tax (PAT) in any of the models. So overall total revenue, construction loan and pharmaceutical loan have a positive impact on PAT and total assets, transportation loan and textile loan have a negative impact on PAT. This study emphasizes the significance of strategic lending in underdeveloped industries and provides practical implications for banking professionals and regulators to identify high-risk lending sectors and devise measures to improve long-term profitability. 

This paper investigates the factors that form bank risks in Bangladeshi state-owned banks. As a representation of bank risk, non-performing loans have been considered the dependent variable for this study. The relevant data have been extracted from six state-owned banks in Bangladesh from 2013 to 2022. The final dataset consists of 60 firm-year observations. The ordinary least square (OLS) regression with robust standard errors model is utilized to find the relationship of bank risks with determinants like asset size, efficiency, liquidity, profitability, leverage ratio, capital adequacy ratio, and loan to asset ratio. The findings say that bank size and loan-to-asset ratio have a highly significant positive relationship with bank risk, whereas profitability, capital adequacy ratio, and bank efficiency have a significant negative association with bank risk. On the other hand, leverage and liquidity are negatively and positively correlated with no statistical significance. To check the study's robustness, another proxy of bank risk, loan loss provision has been used and the results are almost similar. State-owned banks operate in every economy with a different mindset than the general commercial banks. Hence, policymakers should take necessary initiatives based on this study to bring down the high bank risks in state-owned banks in Bangladesh.

This paper investigates the factors that form bank risks in Bangladeshi state-owned banks. As a representation of bank risk, non-performing loans have been considered the dependent variable for this study. The relevant data have been extracted from six state-owned banks in Bangladesh from 2013 to 2022. The final dataset consists of 60 firm-year observations. The ordinary least square (OLS) regression with robust standard errors model is utilized to find the relationship of bank risks with determinants like asset size, efficiency, liquidity, profitability, leverage ratio, capital adequacy ratio, and loan to asset ratio. The findings say that bank size and loan-to-asset ratio have a highly significant positive relationship with bank risk, whereas profitability, capital adequacy ratio, and bank efficiency have a significant negative association with bank risk. On the other hand, leverage and liquidity are negatively and positively correlated with no statistical significance. To check the study's robustness, another proxy of bank risk, loan loss provision has been used and the results are almost similar. State-owned banks operate in every economy with a different mindset than the general commercial banks. Hence, policymakers should take necessary initiatives based on this study to bring down the high bank risks in state-owned banks in Bangladesh.

This study examines the correlation between industry-specific loan disbursement and profitability in the banking sector of Bangladesh, with a particular focus on the influence of targeted lending on profitability. The study examines the impact of different variables such as total assets, total revenue, non-performing loans, and sector-specific loans (agricultural, transportation, construction, textile, pharmaceuticals, and food procurement), on profit after tax (PAT) by analyzing data from 41 commercial banks between 2009 and 2022. By employing various techniques such as Pooled Ordinary Least Squares (POLS), Two-Stage Least Squares (2SLS), and the Generalized Method of Moments (GMM), we have determined that total assets have a noteworthy adverse effect on PAT in both POLS and 2SLS models. Conversely, construction loans have a positive influence on PAT in these models. The total revenue consistently has a favorable effect on the profit after tax (PAT) in all models. In the GMM model, transportation loans and textile loans have a notable adverse effect on PAT, but pharmaceutical loans have a slight favorable effect. The presence of non-performing loans, total loans, agricultural loans, and food procurement loans does not have a substantial impact on the profitability after tax (PAT) in any of the models. So overall total revenue, construction loan and pharmaceutical loan have a positive impact on PAT and total assets, transportation loan and textile loan have a negative impact on PAT. This study emphasizes the significance of strategic lending in underdeveloped industries and provides practical implications for banking professionals and regulators to identify high-risk lending sectors and devise measures to improve long-term profitability. 

Financial inclusion, especially the adoption of fintech, has emerged as a crucial avenue for removing the financial access divides in developing countries, including Bangladesh. Following the comprehensive analysis, this article intends to outline Bangladesh's recent experiences with fintech-based financial inclusion, identify the short-comings and hence make policy suggestions. Being a descriptive research, cross-sectional and observational research approaches are applied for the explanatory analysis of secondary data. Results suggest an urban-rural gap in the implementation of digital financial services, with urban areas consistently having higher rates of fully online branches and a greater number of financial machines. Despite this, the sharp rise in the issuance of active cards is a positive sign suggesting an expansion of consumer base and an adoption of electronic modes of payment. Moreover, inter-bank electronic fund transfers and online banking have experienced increasing uptake, revealing a progressing trend towards digital transactions within the banking industry. Additionally, the study identifies a speedy growth in the number of mobile financial services accounts in both urban and rural areas. This study adds to the exchange of ideas regarding financial inclusion by carrying out a detailed study of Bangladesh's digital financial transformation, exemplifying the accomplishments, obstacles, and future research directions. It highlights the need for targeted policies and ongoing research efforts to build inclusive financial systems to serve the entire society’s interest. Nevertheless, the observations will have both theoretical and practical significance, contributing towards building capability in harnessing technology for sustainability, community uplifting, and shaping a brighter future.  

This paper aims to examine the financial performance of Bangladeshi listed commercial banks. The study analyzed the financial performances of banks categorized into three generations—first, second, and third—based on their year of commencement of operations in the country. The data of a total of 24 banks, 8 from each generation, listed in the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), has been collected from audited financial statements for the time period of 13 years, from 2010 to 2022. Data has been analyzed using different ratios of profitability, liquidity, capital adequacy, operational efficiency, and credit risk. The ANOVA test also has been used to make a comparison of profitability—the return on assets (ROA), and return on equity (ROE) of the banks of different generations. According to the results, the average profitability ratios in terms of ROA, and ROE of the second-generation banks showed their credibility than banks of other generations; while first generation banks kept higher liquidity, and capital adequacy with higher credit risk than the banks of other generations. The first-generation banks also showed a lower cost-expense ratio, and a higher efficiency in terms of operation, than the banks in the second and third generations. The research also discovered that the profitability of banks of different generations significantly varies from one another.