General Banking Activities: An Observational Study of Dhaka Bank PLC.

Abstract

This report discusses the general banking activities of Dhaka Bank PLC., one of the leading private commercial banks in Bangladesh, based on an observation study conducted over three months at the Eskaton Branch, where I was an intern. The analysis primarily involved the key areas of operation of Trade Finance, i.e., import business and processing of Letters of Credit (L/C) and the Credit Department, and the analysis of the retail banking services, cash management, and remittance cash. The report implied a mixed-methods research design, including direct involvement and observation, as well as a review of secondary data, such as the bank's annual reports and internal documents. Its findings reveal that Dhaka Bank is a healthy institution having a strong corporate banking franchise as evidenced by its factual, centralized implementation of trade finance by its Central Processing Centre (CPC) and a stringent credit assessment process that is handled in accordance with the 5Cs (Character, Capacity, Capital, Collateral, and Condition). According to performance measures, the number of account holdings in the current, savings, and fixed deposit segments has been steadily increasing, as have remittance inflows, a sign of growing market penetration and customer confidence in the bank. Nonetheless, the competitive environment also poses serious challenges for analysis. The SWOT analysis and Porter's Five Forces analysis both reveal that the flooded banking sector is experiencing intense neck-to-neck competition, a high proportion of Non-Performing Loans (NPLs) that is deterring profitability, and an increasing risk posed by alternative fintech and mobile banking solutions, such as bKash and Nagad. In turn, Dhaka Bank PLC. is currently developing a digitization strategy, including introducing new services such as Dhaka Bank GO and C-Solution, and exploring opportunities for expansion in areas such as financing SMEs, green banking, and supporting women entrepreneurs. Finally, Dhaka Bank PLC. can be afforded the chance to succeed and thrive in a changing financial environment by leveraging its long-established reputation, vast branch network, and existing digital initiatives, provided it takes decisive action to overcome its asset-quality and operating-efficiency shortcomings and ensure long-term profitability and dominance.