Savers will not be able to open accounts at post offices manually from the first day of July this year, said the Internal Resources Division (IRD) in a notification.

To continue savings at the postal savings bank, depositors will have to open accounts online, according to two separate notifications by the IRD, a division under the finance ministry.

The investor-bearing manual term deposit account opened before June 30, 2021, will get benefits up to June 30 this year.

"No auto-renewal benefit will be given. All the manual term deposits will be closed after June 30, 2023. They can open a new account online," IRD stated in the notifications.

The account will be closed after adding profit following one year, it said. However, if a depositor wants, she or he will open a new digital term deposit account online on the same day, according to IRD.

The rules will become effective immediately, it said.

Latest data on investment in postal savings banks is not available.

But according to an annual report by the Department of National Savings (DNS), the cumulative amount of general deposits in postal savings banks rose 39 per cent year on year to Tk 4,463 crore in the fiscal year 2019-20 from Tk 3,202 crore.

The cumulative figure of term deposits at the post office stood at Tk 17,184 crore in the fiscal year 2019-20, up 11 per cent from Tk 15,495 crore the same period a year ago, according to the DNS.