Impact of Covid-19 on Agent Banking Performance

Abstract

Nowadays, agent banking is a great opportunity for the banks to provide banking and financial services to the people. Banks now provide services to the clients through the agent banking which is performed by the third parties on behalf of the bank. It is beneficial for both the banks and the clients. After the launch of Covid-19 in March 2020, it greatly affected the agent banking. The impact of Covid-19 on agent banking is the main focus of this report which is specifically presented here. Generally, the agent banking is directly involved with lots of banking related activities such as accounts opening, foreign remittance, loan disbursement, cash withdrawal, liquidity etc. Those banking activities got highly affected due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The conditions of these bank operations before and after the Covid-19 are clearly presented in this report. The impact of Covid-19 on the agent banking of Social Islami Bank Limited (SIBL) is clearly presented here. In the analysis & findings part, the financial data of the Social Islami Bank Limited (SIBL) are demonstrated with the agent banking through table and charts for the period 2018 to 2021 (before and after Covid-19). These financial data are taken from the annual reports and the financial statements of SIBL. It was found that Covid-19 significantly influences the agent banking performances in the context of SIBL.