Problems of General Banking Activities of Prime Bank

Major aim of this report is to analysis and discuss on the Practices and Problems of General Banking Activities of Prime Bank Limited. Other objectives are present the general banking system and procedure and determine the satisfaction level of the customer about the service provided by the general banking department PBL. Finally find some problem and give some recommendation for increase the growth and prospect of the product of PBL. Report also discuss to Develop and propose some new ways in which service quality can be enhanced to attract customers.

General Statement of Prime Bank Ltd

Prime Bank Ltd. has all along pursued pragmatic policies and strategies depending on the prevailing business scenario. It stayed focused on the emerging needs of the market and positioned itself accordingly. High quality customer service through competent workforce remained uppermost in Prime Bank’s thinking and action plan. Integration of technology in business functions is an important strategy for PBL (Prime Bank Ltd.) to seize opportunities and provide value-added service to the customers.

Prime Bank Ltd. has had consistent growth over the years. Management of PBL has put in place necessary business initiatives, which are to ensure success as Prime Bank Ltd. moves towards the new millennium. Its guiding principles are rendering of service to customers more efficiently and effectively than other competitors and concentrating on core business and building on our strengths. Customer services of Prime Bank Ltd. are acknowledged to be one of the best in the industry and for this high quality Prime Bank Ltd. is rated as a top-performing bank.

Prime Bank Ltd. has plans to improve its customer services further through diversity in products and services. Offering customers a variety of options to fulfill their banking needs will remain an important component of PBL’s long-term business plans. Exercise will continue to streamlining of systems and developing back-office support capabilities. Management has decided to focus more on small and medium sized enterprises by providing a broad range of financial options. PBL has further deepened its stack in retail banking, by introducing new products. Efforts in Merchant banking are further intensified to generate more profits as Prime Bank Ltd. has acquired Merchant-banking license.

Prime Bank Ltd. is able to remain competitive and enjoyed continued growth, which in some extent depends on financial sector reforms of the government. Prime Bank Ltd. is in complete agreement with Bangladesh Bank’s plans to review and thoroughly assess the financial sector and set the future framework for the industry. Prime Bank Ltd. is willing to support all constructive reforms that are in the national interest and encourage more competition and choice for the people. This Bank always stays tuned to the realities of rapidly changing markets. Management of PBL strongly believes that this bank will grow and prosper in the days to come. Ongoing researches to innovate products and fine-tune the existing products will lead to advantageous position.

MasterCard credit cards business and newly introduced ONLINE banking has opened up new possibilities not only for improved customer service but several windows for profit generation. Installation of SWIFT and integration of Treasury functions in both local money market and international foreign exchange market are expected to yield better growth in volume and earnings. While banking is undergoing changes to accommodate increasing needs of customers, technology is considered as a key element for achieving competency based on reliability. PBL is working to further improve its computer system in order to provide clients with new IT products and services such as ATM, ONLINE BANKING and POINT OF SALES transactions. From PBL’s perspective, Technology will help Prime Bank Ltd. to operate more efficiently and improve its productivity. Therefore, investment in technology infrastructure receives highest priority. While technology takes care of much of the routine functions, employees will have more time to spend with their customers providing greater range of advice and services. At present Prime Bank Ltd. manage the branches in a manner, which maximizes profit and brings added values for shareholders.

Objectives of PBL

The objectives for which the bank is established are as follows:

1. To carry on, transact, undertake and conduct the business of banking in all branches.
2. To receive, borrow or to raise money on deposit, loan or otherwise upon such terms as the company may approve.
3. To carry on the business of discounting and dealing in exchange of specie and securities and all kinds of mercantile banking.
4. To provide for safe-deposit vaults and the safe custody of valuables of all kinds.
5. To carry on business as financiers, promoters, capitalists, financial and monitory agents, concessionaires and brokers.
6. To act as agents for sale and purchase of any stock, shares or securities or for any other momentary or mercantile transaction.
7. To establish and open offices and branches to carry on all or any of the business abroad and within the country provided prior permission is obtained from Bangladesh bank.

Management and Human Resources:

A well-educated, skilled and enterprising workforce with wide experience in the banking is a precondition for the continued growth and progress of any bank. PBL’s aim is to recruit and retain a competent workforce. In the expectation of continued growth, the bank in 1998 established a training institute for its own staff. Prime Bank recruits experienced bankers as well as fresh graduates and trains them through the Training institute. Its human resources strength is 894 as on December 31, 2004. All of the top executives of the bank have diversified Banking and Auditing experience for many years with leading Private Commercial Banks and other financial institutions.

PBL’s Organizational Structure

Prime Bank is listed with promoter shareholders’ collectively holding a 46% stake in the bank. One of the main reasons for the bank’s good financial condition is that the bank’s promoters, who have other business interests as well, have refrained from using the bank for insider lending. This is a huge issue for Bangladeshi private banks and together with somewhat lax supervision, is the single biggest factor for the poor financial condition of most private banks.

While Prime Bank has so far benefited from its promoter shareholders’ approach of maintaining an arms-length relationship between the bank and their other businesses, whether this would continue to be the case in future, particularly when the second-generation promoters become directors of the bank remains to be seen.

The bank had a rather large board (20 members in all) with representatives from all the major shareholders. Previously central bank norms prevented any one shareholder individually holding an equity stake of greater than 5% in the bank; this was the reason for the 20 directors sitting in the board. The central bank rules in this regard have undergone a slight change. Now the rules are that the individual holding has been enhanced to 10% and the size of the Board will now be restricted to 13 members, which should include at least two independent directors.

The bank’s board has a policy of rotating the Chairman’s position amongst various members; consequently the bank has a new Chairman every year. The executive management also appears a bit top-heavy (relative to the size of the bank) with one additional managing director besides the managing director, a Senior Executive Vice President, four Executive Vice Presidents and many Senior Vice Presidents. Prima-facie the rotating Chairman and the presence of effectively two managing directors may lead to some overlapping responsibilities and possible conflict; however this does not seem to have happened so far in the bank’s history and the bank continues to perform satisfactorily.

Introduction of the Project

A bank is a financial institution whose primary activity is to act as a payment agent for customers and to borrow and lend money. It is an institution for receiving, keeping, and lending money. The first modern bank was founded in Italy in Genoa in 1406, [citation needed] its name was Banco di San Giorgio (Bank of St. George). Modern banking system plays a vital role for a nation’s economic development. Over the last few years the banking world has been undergoing a lot of changes due to deregulation, technological innovations, globalization etc. These changes in the banking system also brought revolutionary changes in a country’s economy.

Present world is changing rapidly to face the challenge of competitive free market economy. Banking Sector in Bangladesh is facing challenges from different angles though its prospect is bright in the future.

General banking is one of the major sections of any branch of any bank. the services of general banking are cash receive and payment, account opening, DD, pay-order, TT issue and clearing .the success of a bank depends a lot on the success of general banking. In prime bank all the general banking activities are performed under the control of GB (General Banking) head. GB head monitors the daily activities and solve the problems of general banking department. Prime Bank Limited General Banking Department can be divided in to four sections. They are:

• Cash section
• Computer section
• Clearing section
• A/C opening

In general banking activities Customer service is the most important part. In this respect bank management needs to develop a comprehensive plan in order to identify objectives, goals, budgets and strategies that will be consistent with the maximization of share values and satisfying customers.

Objective of the Report

The purpose of this report is to fulfill the internship requirement. The reason behind an internship is to gather practical knowledge about the corporate world and apply the theoretical knowledge on practical field which one has gathered through out his educational life. The major objective of the report is to present an overview of Prime Bank Limited and to know about its management system, functional and financial aspects.

Methodology of the Report

Both primary and secondary data is used to prepare this report. The details of these sources are highlighted in the following.

Primary Data collection:

• One of the major sources of primary data collection is a survey conduct on the customers of Prime Bank Limited (Ring-Road Branch).
• Discussion with the officers of Ring-Road Branch specially Shinthia Hossain (In-charge of General Banking Department), Jahidul Islam Khan (Principal Officer) and Mehedi Alam (Assistant Officer) has helped to gather primary information.
• Informal conversation with the clients.
• Practical working experience from the different desks of General Banking of the bank.

Secondary Data collection:

• Annual report 2008 of Prime Bank Limited.
• General Banking Manual
• Website information and other official Paper’s of Prime Bank Limited.

Data processing and analysis:

After collecting data by survey, the data is counted and give input in the Microsoft Excel. Then the graphs are prepared and analyze them with our theoretical knowledge. After that the problem finding and recommendation part comes.

Analysis & Discussion Of General Banking

Prime Bank limited provides mainly three types of services towards their customers. They are:

• Deposit Scheme
• Loan Scheme
• Islamic Banking

Deposit Scheme

Deposit is often called the lifeblood of commercial banks. No commercial bank can be thought of without deposit. In fact modern commercial banking starts with deposits from the public followed by lending or financial trade, commerce and industry. The most of the deposit of a bank come from the various type of bank account that is provided by a bank.

Different Types of Deposit Scheme:

• Contributory Saving Scheme
• Monthly Benefit Deposit Scheme
• Education Saving Scheme
• Fixed Deposit Scheme
• Short term Deposit
• Lakhopati Deposit Scheme
• Double Benefit Deposit Scheme
• Foreign Currency Account
• Resident Foreign Currency Deposit Account
• Non Resident Foreign Currency Deposit Account
• Non Resident Taka Account
• Non Resident Investors Taka Account
• House Building Deposit Scheme
• Prime Millionaire SchemeContributory Saving Scheme:

This is a Savings Scheme in which a person gets the opportunity to build up savings by contributing monthly installments and receives an attractive fixed amount at the end of a specified term. The Scheme is designed to help the fixed income group to save money and build up a sizable fund with which they can go for some income generating venture to improve the quality of their life and/or meet any future financial obligations. Minimum size of monthly installment shall be Tk. 500/- and multiplies of Tk. 1000/-. Maximum installment size shall be Tk. 25,000/- The Deposit shall be for a period of 5 years.

A brief chart of lump sum amount and monthly pension installments payable are shown below:

Monthly Benefit Deposit Scheme:

This is a Deposit Scheme where the depositor gets monthly benefit out of his deposit. The scheme is designed for the benefit of the persons who intend to meet the monthly budget of their families from the income out of their deposit. Investment of fund of Trusts and Foundations, which award monthly scholarships/ stipends to students, etc. Deposit of Tk. 25,000.00 (Taka twenty five thousand) and multiples thereof, but maximum Tk. 25, 00,000/- (Taka twenty-five lac) shall be acceptable under the Scheme. The Deposit shall be for a period of 5 (Five) years. The Principal amount is refundable on maturity.

Education Savings Scheme:-

The educational expenses particularly the expenses for higher education are sharply increasing day by day in our country. Prime Bank Limited has introduced a Savings Scheme entitled “Education Savings Scheme” in accordance with the principles of Islamic Sariah i.e., on the basis of profit and loss sharing. Deposit of Tk. 50,000/- and multiples thereof but maximum limit of Tk. 5, 00,000/- at a time will be acceptable under the Scheme. The instrument shall be issued for a period of 5 years term. On maturity a lump sum amount of Tk. 85,382/- shall be payable or education allowance @ Tk. 1,854/- per month per Tk. 50,000/- shall be payable on the basis of deposit amount for next 5 years starting from the completion of the term as per following table. Income Tax @10% on interest may be deducted at source at the time of payment of lump sum amount.

Fixed Deposit Scheme:-

Fixed deposit scheme should be kept for a fixed term or period. Prime Bank Limited deals with the following terms deposit.

Table: Fixed Deposit Scheme

Short Term Deposit:-

A short-term deposit (STD) account is a running account with amounts being paid into and drawn out of the account continuously. These accounts are called Demand Deposits or Demand Liabilities since the banker is under obligation to pay the money in such deposits on demand. These accounts are generally opened by Business Organization, Public Institution, Corporate Bodies. A STD account may be opened by an individual person. It is an interest bearing deposit. Interest is  calculated on daily basis as per Banks Prescribed Rate and is credited to account on half yearly basis.

Current interest rate on STD account is presented in the following table:

Lakhopati Deposit Scheme:-

In a Lakhopati Deposit Scheme depositor will have to pay monthly installment into a bank and after completing maturity he or she will get certain amount of money. The depositor will have the option to choose any installment size and period at the time of opening of the account and will not be allowed to change the size of installment afterwards. Account in the name of minors can be opened too under the Scheme as per standard procedure for minor accounts. A person can open more than one account for any size of installment in any branch of the Bank. In case of death of a depositor, the account will cease to be operative and the amount deposited so far shall be paid to the nominee, and in absence of nominee, to the legal heirs of deceased as per rules in force.

Monthly Installment size, tenure and terminal value of the scheme will be as follows:

 Table: Lakhopati Deposit Scheme

Double Benefit Deposit Scheme:-

The Scheme shall be implemented through all the branches of Prime Bank Limited. Deposit of Tk. 25,000/- (Taka twenty five thousand) and multiplies thereof but maximum limit of Tk. 25,00,000/- (Taka twenty-five Lac) at a time will be acceptable under the scheme. A specially designed Receipt shall be issued for the deposit under the Scheme in the same manner as issued in case of FDR. Branches shall use the existing SDS receipts for issue of instruments under this scheme till separate receipts are supplied. The instrument shall be issued for 06 (six) years term. At maturity after 06 (six) years’ double the amount of deposit will be paid to the depositor.

Prime Millionaire Scheme:-

Table: Prime Millionaire Scheme

Loan Scheme

Prime Bank limited has formulated the following the loan scheme:

• General Loan Scheme
• Consumer Credit Scheme
• Lease Finance
• Hire Purchase
• House Building Loan Scheme
• Advance Against Share
• Small & Medium Enterprise

 Eligibility for Credit:

The persons having confirmed/permanent job in any one of the following organizations and age between 20 to 50 years are eligible for availing of Credit facilities under the Scheme.

• Government Organization
• Semi-Government and Autonomous Bodies
• Banks, Insurance Companies or any other Financial Institutions
• Armed Forces, B.D.R, Police and Ansar
• Private Organizations having corporate structure
• Teachers of Universities, Colleges and Schools

Besides the above, Professionals like Doctors, Engineers, Architects, Lawyers, Journalists, Chartered Accountants; Self Employed Business Executives are also eligible for enjoying credit facilities under this scheme subject to the providing of Bank Guarantee or Insurance Guarantee for the amount of Credit.

Consumer Credit Products:

• Household durable Loan
• Car Loan
• Doctors Loan
• Advance Against Salary
• Any Purpose Loan
• Education Loan
• Travel Loan
• Marriage Loan

Islamic Banking

Prime Bank Limited has started its operation as a Conventional Bank in April 1995. But pretty soon afterwards, within few months, the Bank has taken up the Challenge to start Islamic Banking Operations. The Challenge is not so much as in operating Islamic Banking but in maintaining both the forms in Parallel. From its inception as an Islamic Bank the bank has proven itself to be worthy of its slogan of ‘Bank with a Difference’, through successful operation of Islamic Banking. Prime Bank has started its Islamic Banking operation through its first Branch being inaugurated at 19, Dilkusha C/A, Dhaka on 18 December 1995. Since then it has so far has established four more branches at different locations in the Country. Because of its popularity and management’s commitment toward social well being gradual expansion of Prime

Bank’s Islamic banking operations are assured. Following are the salient features of Islamic Banking, as is practiced in Prime Bank Limited:

• All activities are conducted according to Islamic Shariah.
• Interest free monetary operations.
• Building partnership relation between the Bank and its customers.
• Following Islamic principles in its investment portfolio.
• While investing special consideration to social needs are given.
• Through small and long term deposit schemes providing hope to the poor income group of the society.
• Client service centric banking, through which making the clients feel special.
• Conduct welfare activates etc.

General Banking Activities of PBL

General banking is one of the major sections of any branch of any bank. the services of general banking are cash receive and payment, account opening, DD, pay-order, TT issue and clearing .the success of a bank depends a lot on the success of general banking.

The computer of all branches is not uses the same software .usually two type of software are used in a branch. They are Temeons T-24 CBS and PC Bank Software. Temeons T-24 CBS is used in online banking and PC bank software is used in non o line banking.

Cash Payment to Customer:

Cash is paid to the customer or to the person to whom the bank is legally responsible to do so.

Procedure of Cash Payment:

• The customer places cheque, pay order, money order recipe or any debit voucher to the cash counter.
• The officer receives the cheque and check the customers account balance at the computer
• If the customer has available balance in his account then the officer will debit the customer’s account (the amount which is written on the cheque the account).
• The tracer number must be written down by the officer while giving posting on the computer
• The signature of the customer will be verified at the signature verification software
• If the signature matches then disbursement of the cheque takes place.

Minimum requirements of a cheque in different accounts:

• The date of the cheque must not more than 6 months older
• The availability of the signature of the customer
• The amount and the amount written in words must be same
• Signature of the bearer of the cheque on the opposite side of the cheque.
• For making payment of more than Tk.50000, the operation manager should be informed.
• Cash payment is made with in 00pm.

Minimum Account Balance:

Cash Received from Customer:

Another important activity of this department is cash receive from the customer. Customers deposit money to pay bills, insurance premium, and monthly deposits of the scheme.

Cash Receive Procedure:-

• The customer has to fill the credit voucher or deposit slip properly and place to the cash deposit counter.
• The receiving officer will receive the money and the voucher and check the deposit slip and will make posting of the transaction in cash receive register and he will credit the customer account.
• If all the requirements are fulfilled then the process will be completed.

Important Requirements:

Cheque Book Issue:

By the cheque a customer can withdrawal his money from his account. Usually anew cheque book is issued after the confirmation of the customer’s address but if the customer has a loan account with the credit division then he can get that before address confirmation. The front desk of the bank deals with the procedure of issue of cheque book.

The process of Cheque Book Issue:-

• Customer will fill up the cheque requisition slip by writing down the account number, name of the account holder, address and signature of the account holder and present to the passing officer.
• The signature of the account holder will be verified on the software
• If the signature is similar then the cheque book serial number is posted by the officer at the computer
• After that the officer prepares the cheque book with the account number and branch seal.
• The issued cheque book posted in the proper cheque book issue register and will receive the sign of the customer after handing over the cheque book to him.

Issue of Pay Order:-

A pay order is a written order, issued by a bank, to pay a certain sum of money to a specified person or a bank. It may be said to be a banker cheque as a bank drawn upon and payable issues it by itself. A pay order is issued and paid by the same branch of a bank and such, the drawer and the drawee are the same.

The person or the organization in whose favor it is issued is known as payee or the Beneficiary It is sometimes sold to the individual on payment of value to may or may not be a customer and is called the purchaser. The purchaser should sign the standard application form giving detailed particulars and request for issue of pay order. The payee or beneficiary must not appear to be fictitious. His full name and address should be written on the application. Bank should recover commission of pay order from the purchaser.

Issue of Pay Slip:-  

A pay slip is written authorization for making payment-specified person or firm payable by issuing branch, for a discharge liability of the bank. As pay slip is originated made payable by the bank in a receipt form there is no need for any application for its issue. A pay slip is issued to effect payments on account of bills payable for goods and services purchased or availed by it. For example, bank is required to make payment of bills for the purchase of furniture & fixture, for printing & stationary and for any other works done on its behalf by the other party on agreement with the bank.

Inward Remittances:

Banks have a wide network of branches all over the country and offer various types of remittance facilities to the public. The only other agency, which provides such facilities, in a limited way, is the post office. The remittance of funds by banks is made through different methods. They are:

• Demand drafts
• Mail transfers
• Telegraphic transfer

Demand drafts: Demand draft is a written order to pay money, drawn by one branch of a bank for a sum of money payable to order on demand. A draft cannot be done payable to bearer. Customers may purchases draft or non-customers of the bank. The purchaser of the draft must fill in the relative application form with his name, amount, and name of the payee, the amount and the office in which it is drawn. In order to sure safety, the purchaser is advised to cross the draft and the bank gives a test number. Having issued the draft the issuing officer would send the drawee branch, an advice containing the particulars of the draft.

Mail Transfer: Mail transfer is an advice regarding remittance of funds sends by one branch of the bank to another branch of the same bank, at the written request of the application. The mail transfer contains the name and address of the remitter. It is a nonnegotiable instrument and generally is not handed over to the customer rather sent through post office to the concerned branch for credit to the respective account. In some cases, full address of the beneficiary required to be maintained by the applicant. Such MT is an advance and treated as a credit voucher of the paying branch, no separate advice is issued by the issuing branch. On receipt of the MT payment is made by debit to issuing branch through SB account.

Telegraphic Transfer: Telegraphic transfer may be affected at the written request of any person and against value received from him. A written application on the bank’s prescribed form duly signed by the purchaser should be obtained. If the application for issue of telegraphic transfer contains instruction to debit the account of the purchaser, his or her signature should be verified. It is however, preferable to obtain a confirmation cheque from the customer.

On Line Cheque Debit:-

If the customer has on-line advantage in his or her account, then he will be able to receive money from the branch presenting the cheque of other branch. this transaction is “Transfer Transaction” for the order receiving branch, in this case, the branch which cheque has been presented should maintain the following procedure:

• Debit the customer account by the amount of the cheque.
• Credit the account of the ordering branch by the amount of the cheque.
• Prepare four IBCE (Inter Bank Credit Advice) comprising main copy, responding copy, HO copy and originating copy with the IBCA no, responding branch name and code. A/C name and number and amount of the cheque
• Main copy and responding copy of IBCA are sent to the responding branch and HO copy is sent to Head Office of Prime Bank Limited through courier or messenger.

Payment of On-Line Cheque:-

As we mentioned, customer can receive money from one branch by present the cheque of another branch of Prime Bank limited. In this case cash disbursing branch will maintain the following four steps:

• Make payment of the cheque after proper presentation of it.
• Debit the amount of the branch which cheque has bee presented by the written amount.
• Prepare four IBCA comprising main copy, responding copy, HO copy and originating copy with the IBDA no, responding branch name and code. A/C name and number and amount of the cheque.
• IBDA will be signed by two P.A. holder of the originating branch
• Main copy and responding copy of the IBDA are sent to the responding branch and HO copy is sent to Head Office of Prime Bank Limited through Courier or messenger.

Outward and Local Bills for Collection:-

In banking practice of Prime Bank Limited, outward bills mean cheque or other instrument written on the branch which is not in the same city where the bill is presented. On the other hand, local bill means the cheque or other instrument which drawn and presented in two different branches but are located in the same city. In short outward bill and local bill are called OBC and LBC. The customer will receive money from the branch where instrument is presented but may not be in the same date. It depends on when the cheque is sending for collection and the distance between the two branches.

Process of both Outward and Inward Bills:

• Instrument of other branch received for collection from customer
• Sending the instrument as soon as possible to the branch on which it is drawn for collection
• Receiving the instrument again from the branch after collection.
• Issuing IBDA comprising main copy, responding copy, HO copy and Originating branch of the IBDA.
• IBDA will be signed by two P.A. holder of the originating branch of the IBDA.
• Then the IBDA will be posted in the computer by debiting the branch on which instrument was written and crediting the customer account.
• Main copy and responding copy of IBDA are sent to the responding branch and HO copy is sent to Head Office of Prime Bank Limited.

Savings and Current Account Opening:-

Account opening is a very important task to establish banking relationship with a customer. Mainly the account opening section deals with opening with all kinds of accounts. The most two popular accounts are savings and current account. An adult individual having sound mind can open a Savings account signally or jointly. Guardian can open minor account. Any club, society and similar organization are also eligible to open SB a/c by providing Bye-Laws/Resolution/articles of association which is acceptable to the bank. An illiterate person can open SB a/c as per applicable laws of the bank by left hand thumb impression and physical

attendance. On the other hand a person can open a current a/c signally, jointly or in the name of an organization, club, association, or institution can open current account providing Bye-Law and articles of association acceptable to the bank.

The procedure of opening of both of these accounts:-

• Account opening form to be filled in and signed by each of the applicant with largest passport size photograph (2 copies) for each applicant attested by the introducer, copy of passport/any identity card, introduction of the applicant to be signed by introducer with account number, one copy of the nominee’s photograph and signature of the nominee. Minor accounts additional requirements are copy of the birth certificate and photograph.
• Verify officer of the branch will verify the introducer signature by checking it up with the signature provided by signature verification software.
• After verification of the introducer’s signature, accounts opening officer will give the customer the current a/c or savings a/c no which he intended to open and will posted it to the account opening register.
• Then the customer will deposit the initial deposit (Tk.2000 for SB a/c and Tk.5000 for current account) in the account number provided by the opening officer.
• Then a/c opening officer and signature verification officer will sign on the form. Then the form will be approved by the HOB and Operation Manager.
• The officer at the computer then post the a/c opening form with any special instruction and credit the customer’s account by the initial amount.
• After that the compliance officer of the branch will check the a/c opening form whether all the instruction of Bangladesh Bank is followed up to open the account.

Terms and Conditions of Savings Account:-

FDR Account Opening:

FDR (fixed Deposit Receipt) is another popular scheme of Prime bank Limited. Here a depositor will deposit fixed amount at the FDR. He will get the principal and interest amount at the maturity of the FDR.

Procedure of opening an FDR account:-

• The customer will fill up the FDR account opening form with a passport size photograph, nominee’s photograph, mailing address, permanent address, period and special instruction.
• The account opening officer will provide a FDR no. on the form, posted it on the register and at the computer.
• The customer will deposit the FDR amount in the accounts.
• Then the a/c opening officer will sign on the form
• Properly completed form will be signed by HOB and Operation Manager.
• After these steps the officer will write down a receipt and hand over it to the customer.
• Then the compliance officer will check the a/c opening form and regularize it.

Rate of interest applicable to different period of time:

Encashment of Accounts:

In this part the matured accounts or the accounts which are unwilling to continue the by the customer is encased.

Encashment can be of two types:-

• Mature encashment
• Pre-mature encashment

Mature Encashment:

When there is a mature encashment, the customer will get the principal amount deposited and interest on the deposited principal amount at the rate which is prescribe in the particular account opening form. The income tax on interest amount is deducted from the maturity amount.

Pre-Mature Encashment:

In the case of pre mature encashment the officer has follow some terms and conditioned. The account holder will get less than he should get at the maturity date if he does pre-mature encashment.

Additional Services Provided by General Banking:

Beside all of the above services there are some other important services provide by Prime Bank Limited:

• Locker Service: Bank provides safe custody of the customer’s valuable assets in exchange for the locker rent.
• Opening B/O Account: Some specific branches of Prime Bank also offer the customer to open B/O account.
• Bank Statement: Bank statement is the summary of transaction with the bank for specified period of time. Prime bank charges TK.200 for every statement and Tk.10 per month for deposit scheme.
• Solvency Certificate: Bank also provides the solvency certificate to their customer in permission of the Head office. Bank charge Tk.200 for each solvency certificate. period of time .

SWOT Analysis of PBL

SWOT Analysis is a strategic planning method used to evaluate the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats involved in a project or in a business venture. It involves specifying the objective of the business venture or project and identifying the internal and external factors that are favorable and unfavorable to achieving that objective. The technique is credited to Albert Humphrey .

Strength of Prime Bank Limited:

1. A powerful strategy supported by good corporate governance to increase shareholders value by being efficient, professional transparent and accountable to society and environment.
2. PBL has strong brand image as it has won the prestigious ICAB award for being the best bank in Bangladesh and “A” graded bank according to the CAMEL rating.
3. Products and services are as diversified as the market segment demands and the customer group range from individuals, big corporate clients, NGOs to Non residents.
4. PBL has strong capital position.
5. The asset and liability committee (ALCO) of the bank maintains a satisfactory trade-off between liquidity and profitability.
6. The bank is able to achieve higher growth of loans and deposit than the industry rate.
7. Prime bank limited has strong balance sheet with favorable ROE and ROA.
8. Low non-performing assets or classified loans of the bank signify strengths in credit customer selection.
9. The bank has covered all the global locations of homebound remittance.
10. The bank has now a network of 65 branches throughout the country.
11. The quality of asset is one of the strong areas of operation of PBL.
12. Many of the branches of PBL are under CBS T24. This is helping to minimize the errors.
13. PBL has well diversified asset portfolio to retail, SME and capital market.
14. PBL has a good credit rating of AA which is rated by Credit Rating And Information Services Limited (CRISL).

Weakness of Prime Bank Limited:-

1. All of the branches of PBL are still not under the CBS T24.this lacking is creating operating inefficiency such as human error, fraud and forgeries.
2. The junior level management of PBL is not as efficient as the mid and top level management. This may be because of the lack pf proper training to the junior and training officer.
3. risk management of lending portfolio often require stress testing which are based on sophisticated mathematics tools and cannot solely be dependent on existing MIS. The level of technology in banking industry is yet acquiring that sophistication.
4. the employees of the branches which are under T24 are facing some sort of problem to cope up with the new software that is why it is taking more time to serve a customer.
5. The ATM booths owned by the PBL are not sufficient in comparison to the other banks.
6. PBL has lack of manpower to serve the growing customer demand.

Opportunity of Prime Bank Limited:-

1. PBL took a strategic shift towards developing and expanding the SME financing which has received considerable attention of policy makers.
2. Implementation of world class CBS T24 in number of branches will reduce fraud and forgeries and other operating risks arising from human error.
3. this bank has establish remittance arrangement with 24 leading exchange companies and banks including the global money transfer agency Western Union in 2007.
4. The bank introduced direct selling service recruiting highly trained and customer focused professionals.
5. Finance Act of 2007-08 has withdrawn the withholding tax on purchases by credit card and it is expected that credit card business will again have fast growth in 2008.

 Threats of Prime Bank Limited:-

1. Changes in general economic condition resulting from calamities and political disturbance.
2. The bank is now facing increasing interest sensitive customer who are demanding higher rate of return.

Changes in government policy –

• increase in tax, VAT on banking services,
• increase in corporate tax rate,
• increase in CRR and SLR of the banks,
• withdrawal of incentives given to some thrust sectors which may make the project slow moving,
• directive to reduce the lending rates to finance essential items,
• increase in provisioning requirement would reduce the ROA and ROE,
• Reducing the margin ratio for investment accounts.
• Volatility in interest rate.
• Introduction of compliance issues raised by the international forums which is likely to affect the export growth.
• The rising price of oil and other importable items have exerted pressure on dollar which has squeezed the exchange and fee earning of the bank.
• To compete with the new and lucrative offerings by the other banks are great threats for the bank.

Facilities provided by PBL

Account opening procedure: Customers of Prime Bank Limited gets different type of services or facilities from the bank. Sometime they become satisfied or sometime they become dissatisfied with performance of the bank. From the survey I find out that in terms of account opening procedure almost 8% of the customer said that they find that the procedure is excellent, 26% said that the account opening procedure is very good, 30% of the respondent said that the account opening procedure is good, 30% of respondent said that the account opening process is satisfactory and 6% told that they are dissatisfied with the account opening procedure.

Interest Rate: None of the customer has said that the interest rate is excellent, 10% told that the interest is very good, 24% of the customer said that the interest rate is good, 36% of the respondents said that they are satisfied with interest rate and 30% of the respondents said that they are dissatisfied with the interest rate.

Yearly Charge: None of the customer thinks that the yearly charge is excellent, 10% think that the yearly charge is very good, 44% of the respondents said that the yearly charge is good, 32% of the respondent are satisfied with the yearly charge and14% said that they are not satisfied with the yearly charge.

Employees Behavior: From the graph we can see that 8% of the respondents think that the behavior of the employees are excellent, 28% of the respondents said that the behavior of the employees are very good, 40% of the respondents think that behavior of the employees are good, 20% of the respondents responded for satisfactory and only 4% respondents said that they were not satisfied with the behavior of the employees. So that we can say that most of the customers are satisfied with the behavior of the employees.

Complexity while Dealing with Big Transaction : From the above chart we see that 16% of the respondents strongly agreed that they have faced process complexity while dealing with big transaction, 10% of the respondents agreed that they have faced process complexity while dealing with big transaction, 38% of them were neutral about this statement, 30% of the respondents disagreed about the statement that they have faced process complexity while dealing with big transaction and 6% of the respondent strongly disagreed that they have faced process complexity while dealing with big transaction.

Branch Location: From the above chart we can see that 36% of the respondents think that the location of the Ring-Road (Shamoly) Prime Bank is excellent, 50% of them choose the bank because they think the location of the branch is very good, 10% of the respondents think that the location of the branch is good, 4% of the respondent choose the branch because they think the location is satisfactory and none of the respondent are dissatisfied with the location.

Security: In light of the above chart we can say that none of the respondent think that the security of the branch is excellent, 34% of the respondent think that the security system of the branch is very good, 40% of the respondents think that the security is good, 26% of the respondent go for the option satisfactory and none of them think that the branch is unsecured.

Always Provide Better Customer Service: We can see that 6% of the respondents strongly agree that the bank always provides better service, 32% of the respondents agree with the statement that bank always provide better service, 30% of the respondents are neutral, 26% of the respondents are disagreed with the statement, and 6% of them strongly believe that the does always provide better service.

Recommendations

After completing my survey and informal interview with the customers of General Banking Department of Prime bank Ltd, I have recognized some problems that have been facing by the customers. These problems are given below:

• Account Opening Procedure
• Lengthy Procedure to Deposit & Withdraw
• Interest Rate
• Customer Care
• Scarcity of employees
• Lack of Trained Manpower
• Evening Service
• Process Complexity while Dealing with Big Transaction.
• Dissatisfaction with ATM Facilities and No. of ATM Booth
• Consciousness about customer opinion
• Shortage of locker service

After observing these consequences I have recommended some solutions, which are given below:

• Account Opening Procedure:

During the survey and informal interviews with the customers I came to know that the introducer for Savings and Current Account is one of the major problems to them. Though now PBL has started online banking but all of its branches are not online. On the other hand the signature of the customers of other branches most of the times are not scanned so that if any customer of other branch of PBL introduces the applicant then it is impossible to verify the signature. To solve this problem the online branches should update their account holders’ signature regularly and the process of on-line conversion of the banks must be faster.

• Lengthy Procedure to Deposit & Withdraw:

Prime Bank Limited, Ring-Road branch should provide quick service of deposit and withdrawal of cash for their valuable customers. As the customers need not wait for long time so more cash counting machine and sufficient manpower should be provided in this area.

• Interest Rate:

PBL should increase its interest rate of some of its products by this it can attract more customers willing to open their accounts in the bank.

• Customer care:

Ring-Road Branch of Prime Bank Limited should more concern about customer service. It should provide more trained manpower to support the customer and help them to solve their enquiries.

• Lack of Trained Manpower:

While doing my internship in Ring-Road Prime Bank, I have noticed that there are shortages of manpower only eleven officers are employed in Ring-Road branch . It has huge number of customers but to deal with these customers the manpower is not sufficient. So that there must be right number of employees in the right place and the PBL should provide behavioral training to the employees to deal with the customers more efficiently and more smartly.

• Evening Service:

Now a day evening banking is well-known and warmly acceptable services from the perspective of the customer. In today’s busy world everybody is busy with his or her activities in the whole day. It is difficult for them to find out a few times to go to the bank. So if the bank especially Ring-Road branch establish their evening banking services then it will be beneficial for the customer.

• Process Complexity while Dealing with Big Transaction:

If any one wants to withdraw a big amount of money he needs to inform the branch 7 days earlier. So if any one needs instant money he/she can not withdraw money at that time. So the branch needs to increase its fund capacity.

• Dissatisfaction with ATM Facilities and No. of ATM Booth:

Few days ago Ring-Road Branch has started its ATM facility. It should provide ATM debit Cards to its valued customers faster so that the satisfaction level of the customers accelerated. On the other hand PBL should increase its number of ATM booth to make convenient use for its customers.

• Consciousness about Customer Opinion:

Customer opinion is very important for the development of a service oriented organization. So if the branch consider the customers opinion then it will be helpful to the Bank also. They can place a customer opinion box where the customer can write down their opinion and drop that to the box. By this the banks can get important information from their client and the customers also think that they are valuable to the bank.

• Shortage of Locker Service:

While doing my internship in Ring-Road Prime Bank, I have noticed that in Ring-Road Branch of PBL there is shortage of Locker. No new customer can occupy a locker in this branch so that the customers who live close to the branch have to face difficulty to go for another branch. If this branch can increase its locker facility then it will be helpful to for the customers.

Conclusions

During my internship I got the experience to work with the relationship managers. Moreover I got to interact with the officials of different departments in course of doing my job as an intern. Based on my observation and experiences I have tried to portray the operations of client relationships department, and the internal and external interactions undertaken in this process. I have also tried to find out the shortcomings this department have, and the possible solutions.

As an organization the Prime Bank has earned the reputation of top banks operating in Bangladesh. The organization is much more structured and it is relentless in pursuit of business innovation and improvement. It has a reputation as a leader in financing manufacturing sector.

Client Relationships unit of Prime Bank has the major contribution to the overall revenue of the bank. This core unit of corporate banking group is with the basic job of attracting and persuading new customers as well as providing superior service value to the existing customers.

Prime Bank needs to restructure its client relationships department, should concentrate more on relationship manager recruitment and development process, CR should ensure more cordial working environment and more sincere efforts from the relationship managers. As client relationships performance depend on proper functioning of a group of internal departments as a team, internal co-ordination should be ensured. Moreover Client Relationships department needs to be more customer-oriented.