WhatsApp has become a non-negotiable part of the modern life. Which is why banks in many countries have embraced it to deliver their customer service very effectively.

And from this month, customers of Dhaka Bank would be able to get real-time banking service through the messaging platform, in a first for Bangladesh.

The lender is set to roll out the novel digital banking model for its registered 2.5 lakh clients from the second week of March as part of its push towards digitisation in order to attract tech-savvy customers.

From today Dhaka Bank will roll out WhatsApp banking on a pilot basis among its employees, said its Managing Director Emranul Huq.

"This will help us to figure out problems before launching it formally for clients," he said, adding that Dhaka Bank got approval from the WhatsApp authority last month to introduce the service.

Customers would be able to transfer funds from Dhaka Bank to other banks and bKash, the country's largest mobile financial service provider, make utility payments and mobile top-ups.

The WhatsApp banking platform will offer mini statements to customers and credit card-related transaction record.

Customers can take the service both through messages and voice calls on the WhatsApp platform.

For instance, any customer can make calls to the customer service centre of Dhaka Bank through WhatsApp if he/she faces any problem while at home and abroad through WhatsApp.

This will help reduce the cost of customers as WhatsApp is a free internet-based communication application.

Besides, Dhaka Bank will not impose any change on clients for enjoying banking services through WhatsApp, Huq said.

The lender is hoping more than 50,000 of its customers will embrace the service within the next 2-3 months.

"WhatsApp banking model will also attract new clients as they can expect to conduct hassle-free banking and settle transactions while sitting at their home or office."

The country's youths are highly tech-savvy and the new banking model may catch their attention too.

Over the next few day, Dhaka Bank will send a text message to its registered customers with link of the WhatsApp banking services. 

After clicking on the link, customers will have to send a 'Hi' or 'Hello' message to initiate the WhatsApp banking service.

They will then be asked to reconfirm if they want to take banking service on the platform. They will then be asked to input their account number and create a four-digit passcode for the platform.

After completing the process, the lender will send a one-time password to clients for completion of the registration process.

"WhatsApp banking is safe because all messages are secured with end-to-end encryption," Huq said.

In case of theft of customers' smartphone, the thief will not be able to conduct banking service through the platform by pretending to be the customer.

The reason being, without the passcode the WhatsApp banking would not be activated and the thief would not know this passcode.

The customer, however, should immediately deactivate their WhatsApp account by informing the customer service centre.

"We have been rolling out a number of digital banking service in the last few years to keep up with the technology-based modern times. And the latest one will add value to our banking services further," Huq said.

The lender has also focused on expanding its SME and retail banking service in a quick manner and WhatsApp banking will only help in implementing the roadmap.

Dhaka Bank's retail and SME financing stand at 12.5 percent of its total outstanding loans of Tk 19,563 crore as of December last year.

"We have set a target to enhance the financing to the segment at 35 per cent of our outstanding loans within 2024," Huq added.