Eastern Bank Limited (EBL) has put thrust on maintaining its top-class service delivery in the years to come, the bank's managing director and chief executive officer Ali Reza Iftekhar said.
He was sharing views at a pre-luncheon meeting with the reporters at the bank's newly-built headquarters in the capital's Gulshan Avenue on Sunday.
The EBL top executive said the bank always follows the best practices of the global top FIs since its inception back in 1992 and became one of the best banks in the country.
Mentioning various achievements of EBL over the years, he said global rating agency Moody's rated the bank a stable FI for the last three years, according to him.
"Technically, the bank can issue equity and bond outside the country, though it requires central bank permission. But we achieved the capacity," he said.
"Such market hasn't been flourished in Bangladesh yet..it has huge potentiality," he said.
Terming the ongoing banking climate 'slightly volatile' due to some 'unsavoury factors' like rising volume of NPL (non-performing loan), the EBL MD said it is temporary and things will be much better.
He said the EBL has witnessed the lowest NPL ratio in the country and it is only 2.5 per cent.
"We're very serious about such issues. We know growth in the business will come but we focus more on the sustainability of the growth," he said.
Talking about credit card service, Mr. Iftekhar said the business required Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) certification but only two banks - EBL and City Bank - secured the certificate.
"We're cent per cent compliant on security management," he added.
EBL was the first bank in Bangladesh that introduced online banking in 2002. It also won the accolade as the best retail bank for the last six consecutive years.
