Over time Brac enered evert element of the financial services change needed to ensure economic devekopment of its vuillage women and their next generations as integral to nation building
Genesis of A typical small business owner in suburb of Dhaka -source brac annual report 2009
A group of women sit on the
concrete floor of a small room,
stitching colourful appliqué flowers
on a black saree. They all work for
Shahida Alamgir, a 38-year-old
mother of three, who runs a hand
embroidery business from her home
at Mirpur, a working-class suburb of
Dhaka. Shahida started out 12 years
ago with a 3,000-taka loan from
BRAC, earning about 20,000 takas
a month to supplement the money
her migrant worker husband sent
home. As her orders increased,
Shahida, who is self-taught, started
training other women in her locality
and outsourcing the work. In 2003,
she took out a loan of 50,000 takas
from BRAC Microfinance’s scheme
for small entrepreneurs to expand
her business with 5 workers. Now,
she is on a 300,000-taka loan,
employs 10 to 12 women at a time
and supplies clothes, as well as
cushion and bed covers, to 5 or 6
different retailers, earning 40-50
thousand takas a month. Shahida
wants to open her own boutique
and plans to apply for the maximum
loan of 1 million takas.
brac city bank plays its own roles in serving smes (small medium, enterprsises) particularly of city daughters of village mothers- but it is also a suitable cooperation stage to innovate whats needed next in this context described in brac's 2009 annual report
In addition to operating social enterprises, we also engage in
socially responsible investments in order to build a hedge against
global market meltdowns and unfavorable changes in aid
allocation. BRAC’s investments, while having no direct relationship
with BRAC’s development programmes, reflect an underlying
association with BRAC’s core values and mission. Investments
include BRAC Bank Limited, the pioneer in lending to the small and
medium enterprises (SME) sector; Delta BRAC Housing, which
specialises in lending to the housing sector; bracNet, an internet
service provider intended to develop into a nationwide
communications network to help BRAC spread its development
programmes. The incomes they generate is designed to act as a
hedge against future liquidity crunches and are held in reserve for
BRAC’s development
Also noteworthy , fazle abed sought advice from community banks around the world - eg shorebank was flourishing in the part of south chicago that obama emerged from when structure of brac babk was first conceived ; today the exchange of knowhow is probably the other way round with brac city bank offering one of the deepest benchmarks for the global association of banks with values www.gabv.org
https://www.tbsnews.net/economy/banking/brac-bank-celebrates-20-years-progress-352861
BRAC Bank celebrates 20 years of progress
Presently, Brac Bank is the largest collateral-free lender to the small entrepreneurs with rural penetration of more than 70% revitalising rural economy and generating employment
Brac Bank is celebrating its 20th anniversary with a strong commitment to contribute more to national progress.
Living up to the vision of its founder, Sir Fazle Hasan Abed, KCMG, Brac Bank was the first bank in Bangladesh to introduce collateral-free small ticket loan to the legions of small and medium enterprises at the nook and corner of the country helping them grow and thrive and contribute more to the economic development, said a press release.
Presently, Brac Bank is the largest collateral-free lender to the small entrepreneurs with rural penetration of more than 70% revitalising rural economy and generating employment.
Its performance indicators in the Bangladesh banking sector are reflected in the highest market capitalisation and the highest international investor shareholding in the local banking sector and the highest bank credit rating of all banks in the country from both international rating agencies, S&P and Moody's.
As Bangladesh begins journey to graduate into a middle-income country within this decade and a developed nation by 2041, Brac Bank aspires to contribute to the government's development journey through inclusive banking and entrepreneurship development, the press release added.
"Brac Bank has already made its mark in the country's banking arena through world-class products and services, consistent financial results, good governance, compliance, ethics, transparency and values-based banking," Brac Bank Managing Director and CEO Selim RF Hussain said.
"With the talented and committed team empowered by technology, together we are determined to take BRAC Bank to the next level achieving exponential growth in market share, while continuing to progress the financial inclusion and values based development agenda of our founding Chairperson, Sir Fazle Hasan Abed, KCMG," he added.
"We gratefully acknowledge the trust of our valued customers and shareholders, guidance of the Board of Directors and the regulators and of course, the contribution of our employees that make the bank what it is today," he further said.