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‘OUR STRATEGY IS TO FOCUS ON THE YOUTH, WOMEN AND THE UNDER-SERVED POPULATION’
Md. Kyser Hamid has 13 years of experience in the financial service industry. He joined IPDC in August 2018 as the Deputy Managing Director and Head of Retail Business. Before joining IPDC Finance, Kyser Hamid had worked for BRAC Bank Limited as Head of Retail Sales and Regional Head of Distribution. He also worked for IDLC Finance Limited as Head of Regional Business, Consumer Division.
He met the Fintech team at his office to talk about the role IPDC is playing in the financial sector of this country.
Here is an excerpt of the conversation.
Can you tell us how did you begin you career?
I completed my BBA majoring in Accounting in 2006 from Dhaka University. Afterwards, I did my internship at Incepta Pharma. Being an accounting graduate, I had this intention of becoming a financial analyst. Therefore, I enrolled in the CMA program at ICAB. We all had this notion that we should do jobs that are in line with the subjects we studied at university. Since I studied accounting and finance and then enrolled in CMA, I thought I would also work in that field. However I soon realized the accounting job was not meant for me. After the final examination was over, I applied for management trainee positions and I was accepted at Delta Brac Housing Finance Corporation (DBH). At DBH, I worked at the finance and resource department.
My reporting boss was the Chief Financial Officer. Since it was a small organization, I had the opportunity to learn about marketing, sales support, operations, business and product development as I worked with all these departments. When the interest rate fell quite sharply in 2006, I saw the customer service department going through a tough time while dealing with aggrieved customers, especially home loan customers. They used to come every day, shout and complain about why we had raised the interest rate. On top of that income tax was imposed on deposits at NBFIs which was previously free. People used to take their money out of banks and saving certificates to save in NBFIs. A person who received 1000 Taka per 1 lac after tax at source was deducted suddenly could collect 900 Taka only. During this transition period, I saw many customers who were upset come in and raise many issues. 10 to 15 difficult customers came every day to talk about how they were affected by the sudden change in income tax and interest rate. I noticed that people who were responsible to deal with those customers, they were not able to do so. That is why I began to entertain some customers.
I found it quite interesting that I could convince a customer with a different analysis and at the end of the day he was happy. It dawned on me that I was quite good dealing with customers and soon I became very popular. Customers actually asked for me when they came into the office. When a customer approached me, I tried to understand his total financial problem. After I explained the portfolio according to his requirement, the customer started to depend on me. At that time I received the best customer service award. I became more confident and I was promoted after seven months. That is how my journey began in customer-facing sales and marketing departments.
In 2010, I told my employers at DBH that I wanted to work in retail sales. However, they were not really enthusiastic about putting me in that department. They thought since I had no experience in retail sales where contractual sales people work for low pay and considering my background, they were not sure if I would fit the bill. Fortunately, the Managing Director supported me and allowed me work with 10 sales people in a discarded office. Then my journey took a new turn. The sales team of 100 individuals at DBH brought in business worth 27-28 crore Taka while my team of 10 sales people brought it 30 to 35 crore Taka of business to DBH. Then the management appreciated my efforts, my style of making sales and gave me a sales office in Baridhara and told me to take 30 people onboard. I prepared my team to be the financial consultant of a customer and take care of his entire investment portfolio instead of giving any specific product solution.
In 2012, I moved to IDLC Finance. At IDLC, I became the Regional Head of Consumers. DBH was a single product company that dealt with home loan but IDLC’s retail side comprised of car loan, personal loan and home loan. The fact that I had to supervise a team that sells car loan was another challenge for me. After studying the car loan scenario, the market and the showrooms, I came up with a new KPI, a different model for car loans at IDLC. My employers at IDLC were quite amazed since I didn’t have any prior experience handling car loans. When I joined IDLC, the consumer portfolio was around 650 to 700 crore Taka. Within a short span of time, this number began to grow exponentially and even the organization was not quite ready to cope up with the rapid pace of growth. When I left IDLC in 2015, the consumer portfolio was above 2,000 crore and deposit portfolio was above 4,000 crore Taka. Then I moved to Brac Bank. Here I faced a new challenge since I was a non-banker; I had spent nearly 10 years in NBFIs.
In NBFIs, you cannot receive CASA, current and savings accounts. Selling CASA is a different ball game. Then you have to sell credit cards as well. My team at Brac Bank had 1,200 members, and Brac Bank has the largest sales team in the country. So my progression was from a team of 30 members at DBH to a team of 300 at IDLC Finance and finally to a team of 1,200 at Brac Bank. DBH had five branches, IDLC had 20 to 25 (mainly 5-6 meant for retail sales) while Brac Bank had 186 branches and 450 unit offices. At Brac Bank was I curious to know how the sales happen and I dug deep to find out exactly how and why it happens. When I joined Brac Bank, the retail portfolio was below 2,000 crore and after six months, it became 3,000 crore Taka. We reached 4,000 crore in the next 8 to 10 months and became the largest retail bank in the country. I was the head of Retail Sales and Senior Vice President at Brac Bank where I worked around three years. Then I moved to IPDC Finance as the Head of Retail Business in August, 2018. I also work as a Deputy Managing Director. In my 13-years of work experience, I have spent more than 10 years in NBFIs and three years in a bank.
What are the strategic areas IPDC is focusing on?
I will give you some data before I relate our strategy with the reasons behind it. Bangladesh’s population is now around 160 million or 16 crore. Almost 15 crore people have mobile connection. Nine crore people have access to internet connectivity. The median age of this country is 24. 60 percent of our population is below the age of 30. Our GDP growth in the last decade was around 6 to 7 percent. Our per capita income on the purchasing power parity basis crossed 4,600 dollars. We have been able to create a successful model even for those who live in the most remote areas of Bangladesh. Bangladesh is called the Mecca of NGOs. We have Brac, Grameen Bank and other NGOs that cover the extreme poor, poor and the lower-middle income group in this country. The middle and affluent consumer group (MAC) is around 12 million. The disposable income for the MAC group is more than 400 dollars per month. And every year 2 million people join this group. By 2025, it will be close to 20 million, the middle and affluent class.
In a recent survey I saw that 81 percent of population believes the news they view online. 60 percent of people search for products on the internet. With growing purchasing power, the middle and affluent class has smartphones and uses the internet. If you ask me what will be the need for this class, I will say consumer products. People need lifestyle products when their purchasing power increases. They need household equipments like air conditioner, television, refrigerator, furniture etc. At a later stage they need a house of their own. There are 36 districts in our country where the MAC population is over 1 lac. By 2020, the MAC population will be at least 1 lac in all 63 districts. People who live in the districts outside Dhaka, they want to build a house after their purchasing power increases. There is still a social taboo about taking a loan to build a house or apartment. When I was in a bank, I was also apprehensive about taking a loan so consider someone who does not have any banking literacy. If you ask our parents, they want to avoid taking a loan. People still think there is a lot of hassle with loans like the interest rate, mortgage and others.
Now we have this growing MAC class and when they construct a house without any loan, the entire process takes 2 to 3 years at least since they are mainly depended on their savings. They do some work on the house and after their savings run dry, they halt construction. After they build up their savings, they again start constructing the house. In this way, the quality of construction suffers and ultimately the total expense becomes much greater in the long-run. By taking a loan, they could have avoided these problems and the costs would have been much less. NGOs have a huge role in breaking this mindset of not taking loans as you can see many people in villages take loans for a better livelihood and financial wellbeing. If you can reach out to the ‘missing-middle’ segment with a product like home loan which requires a long-term commitment of 20-25 years, you can become a partner in their development and help them fulfill their dream.
Our strategic objective is to reach that consumer segment with an affordable home loan especially for those who live outside Dhaka. We recently launched a nationwide “affordable” home loan offer titled “Bhalo Basha” making eligible anyone earning a minimum of Tk 20,000 per month. Though a maximum 90 percent of a property’s value can be availed for 25 years tops, the loan limit will be decided based on the customer’s income and property value. For the segment whose purchasing power has increased and they need household equipment, we have launched a product called ‘consumer goods finance’ where we provide loans at 0 percent interest on an EMI basis for 6 months, 12 months, 18 months etc. Apart from these two strategic products from the retail segment, we have some other strategic products from IPDC’s point of view like supply-chain finance and retailer financing. With the rise in GDP of Bangladesh, the middle and affluent segment is steadily increasing and this is where we are positioning our strategic products from IPDC.
What are the upcoming products of IPDC?
We have launched the affordable home loan in several districts outside Dhaka and by the end of this year; we expect to deliver that product in 50 districts from our offices in those locations. I can tell you that the terms and conditions of this home loan is unique in our country as we disburse loan up to 1 million Taka without any collateral. For our ‘consumer goods finance’, we have partnered with organizations like Transcom Limited and it will available in 20 showrooms in Dhaka very soon. We expect to take this product to over 100 stores all across Bangladesh by this year. We also have some other products in the pipeline.
We want to bring in interest-free products targeting the youth segment. Our strategy is to focus on the youth, women and the under-served population. We will launch a new product for women in March. A woman who is working or has property in her name will be able to avail various discounts in over 250 lifestyle product stores. In addition to that, she will get discounts in 10 to 12 hospitals as well. We will be giving her life insurance coverage of 2.5 lac covering 10 incidents per year. She will also get online doctor’s consultancy 24/7. We will introduce a product called IPDC Priti, a complete financial solutions for women where you can easily get the appointment of highly sought out doctors. Initially, we are offering this product only for women.
We all know that the customers are very demanding. How are you dealing with your customers?
You see IPDC’s strategy is very clear; we don’t want to sell any products; we offer effective financial planning to the customers. Our customer service is unique from other organizations as we view it as a long-term relationship. We want to be partners for the long haul. We believe that customers should grow and we will also grow. In that regard, we are sharing revenue with each other. The customer whose revenue is increasing, he or she is giving us a share of that revenue.
We don’t offer a single solution, for example after taking home loan to build or purchase a house, the customer may need money for renovation after a few years, or intend to buy a car since there is parking space at his new home, he can take loan to expand his business etc. So we fulfill the 360 degree requirements of a customer. We differentiate with our competitors by our relationship with the customer and by our tailor-made services. We have a dedicated relationship manager for each and every customer. We don’t have any orphan account. In essence, we have a complete relationship-based banking model.
What are you doing to meet the goal or objective of IPDC?
As I have told you earlier, the objective of IPDC is to work with the youth, women and the under-served population. We are constantly working with passion and the largest NGO in the world, Brac is in our shareholding as well as the government of Bangladesh. There is no individual ownership at IPDC. IPDC is owned by various renowned institutions. There is no scope for profiteering at IPDC. The government is working for the betterment of the mass population. Similarly, our profit that goes to Brac actually comes back to the society. In effect, there is no profiteering and that is why we are focusing on the under-served population. If you take a look at our products, you will notice that we are concentrating outside Dhaka so the financial services are available in districts and mofassil towns. We are offering easy terms and conditions. Through our range of products, we intend to build a long-term relationship with the customers. The way we do our business is completely aligned with the strategic objectives of IPDC.
How are you dealing with your competitors in other sectors?
This is a valid question because the competition is extremely intense nowadays. You can notice something amazing here; we have almost 60 banks, 34-35 NBFIs. When you talk about competition, all the banks and NBFIs have interest rates in their minds. These organizations are competing with other to provide the lowest interest rate and the advertisements we see all around will back me up. Nobody actually cares about the requirement of the customer. Customers are now intelligent enough to recognize the short-cut, quick-winning strategies offered to them. You cannot offer the lowest interest rate for long-term products. So the customer acquisition strategy has been found out. Secondly, according to the information I gave you earlier about our population, if you cannot reach out to them technologically and offer tailor-made solutions, you cannot win here with just the interest rate.
As an organization, IPDC is very young; our median age is below 35. So we are very tech-friendly. What we are missing right now is e-KYC or electronic KYC. If integration of the Election Commission, telcos and other organizations can happen, we will be able to provide the customer with the necessary validation almost instantaneously. In other areas we are ready. We are giving solutions to customers where through technology they can avail all the information, inquire when necessary and get the service in the end. All the files are processed and sanctioned online when we go outside Dhaka. So we take the advantages of relationship management, tailor-made solution and fintech (financial services through technology). We believe we can win over the competition with these three things rather than using pricing strategy.
What are the technological innovations you are adopting to serve the customers?
First of all I want to tell you that our sales-force is equipped with loan-advance module and sales management in their device. The lead we get from any customer reaches the head office automatically. Sitting at the head office, I can find out exactly what the salesperson said about a specific product to a customer, whether he is in Bogura, Rangpur or Thakurgaon. Since we have the lead from the customer beforehand, it saves time and effort when we start working on that case. When we communicate with that customer directly, we can provide an accurate assessment upfront. We can in principle say what will be the amount of loan, the probable interest rate and monthly installment then and there.
I have seen all the organizations work separately while graduating the data along with the entire process of loan sanctioning. This greatly increases the turnaround time for customers. We have managed to solve this problem as we handle all the information electronically. Secondly, we have launched this service in various stores in Bagura, Jessore and Dhaka where the customer can avail the loan upfront by providing his or her photo, images of the NID and bank statement. Now we intend to bring in the digital wallet which will allow payment integration for the customer.
We are upgrading our core banking and we expect to complete the process by the third quarter this year. We are using the latest technology available for this purpose. In essence, technology is allowing us to serve the customers in the scale that we do. In terms of supply-chain management, no other organization is even close to IPDC and we recently won a supply-chain excellence award. Technologically speaking, we are far ahead of any financial institution and although our operation is not as large as a bank’s, we have overtaken others in terms of customer service and product offerings. Our sales management is automated, something no other banks have at this moment. We also have e-document management to speed up the entire process.
What is the future plan for IPDC?
We are the oldest financial institution of Bangladesh as we started our journey in 1981. We have also played a role in setting up other financial institutions in this country, be it their sponsor share holding or preference share bonds. IPDC was also involved in some mega projects of Bangladesh. Earlier, we were a corporate focused financial institution but from the end of 2015, we are completely focusing on retail and SME. Our balance sheet composition at present is 50 percent corporate, 25 percent for SME and retail. But our current strategy is to increase the composition of retail and SME. In retail, we want to be as big as possible. We are eyeing a massive retail portfolio as well as in SME. Strategically we are moving in that direction and by 2021; we hope to become the largest NBFI. Currently we are in the third position. In retail, we want to be as big as possible and recently we have been awarded “The Best Retail Finance Company 2018 in Bangladesh” by International Finance Magazine.
A tete- a- tete with Mahzabin Ferdous
Mahzabin Ferdous, Head of Brand & Corporate Communication, IPDC Finance Limited, is famously known as Next generation digital marketing innovator; ATL, BTL and engagement expert. She has over more than a decade of marketing experience spread across advertising agencies and mobile device industries with distinctive capacities of managing GTM considering cut-throat competition, marketing innovation, brand management and result-oriented IMC planning & execution. She has housed 4 global stature accolades at a company level, along with significant extra-curricular and professional awards at an individual level. Proud to be a woman, Mahzabin started her career in advertising section.
In an arena, not known from woman-friendly or where the woman's presence is significantly lower, she thrived tremendously. She took the challenges, showed her enthusiasm and brought up changes that were welcomed.
"The relentless pursuit towards the unbound possibilities of marketing and communications drives the passion for my job. I am absolutely in love with the consistency of change that keeps marketers like us hooked to the volatile environment," she said.
"Over the years, IPDC Finance has reconstructed itself from its previous situation, built its capability and realigned its focus on youth, women and underserved areas," she added.
"Unlike products of other industries, the financial industry does not limit its efforts on research and innovation within the development phase of its products. It perseveres to tailor make the experience of the service keeping in mind the convenience and stable livelihood of the customers. Thorough insights are to be extracted and adapted to build a perception of integrity and reliability of the financial institution among the potential clients. We are here to comfort the years of turmoil to envision one's desire by giving them the financial assistance to break the inertia of living unbound. This belief is the rationale behind our pay- offline "Jaago Ucchashe." The passion for exploring the unbound possibilities of our stakeholders drives the motivation in each one of us," she mentioned.
With the scope of branding augmenting from sheer promotion to earning credibility and advocacy of the products that eventually upshot the overall business, Mahzabin's contribution is key.
"I would state to differ. The dimensions of the branding and product launching in this industry have just started to take a flight in the recent years. Previously, we had seen that it was focused more on one to one communication based on relationship. Lately, we witness financial institutions making it rudimentary to fight regarding communication than merely the customer base in the lure to establish the brand. Fortunately, now the scope of branding has augmented from sheer promotion to earning credibility and advocacy of the products that eventually upshot the overall business," she said.
Mahzabin said she was pleased with the customer response which drove her passionate to reach the zenith.
"Merely goal-oriented activity is never justified without being able to assess its success. Therefore, we are in the process of a thorough brand health study as we are approaching towards our one-year completion of revamp. The re-branding event embarked a new journey to unfold pleasant experiences at different stages of our customers' life to let them live unbound. I am pleased with the customer response so far," she added.
"I wouldn't hesitate once to proclaim; I was born to be a marketer. From being curious of the surrounding, spotting trends before others, ability to connect the dots between different things from the very beginning of my cognitive senses and amalgamate all for a more significant purpose has always kept me interested. From the very beginning of my career, I've learned about 360-degree marketing including brand building, brand revamping, executing strategies by working with different agencies for three years. But to have an end to end understanding of all efforts necessary to meet the business goals. I moved to the corporate sector with time, which helped me visualize the bigger picture of each decision taken," she explained.
And her ultimate goal is to make the best use of every experience she gathered.
"A daydreamer and a night thinker, above all a doer, I intend to make the best use of every experience I encounter in life, regardless of the positives or negatives connotation of the experience. We are on a constant lookout for innovative breakthroughs in the field of marketing. There are times when we revise the whole concept overnight to adapt to the sudden trends in social media. How precisely the nature of the field I work in compliments the view of myself fascinates me. Here at IPDC Finance, I can feed and calm the impulsive nature of myself and my job simultaneously. I believe, having a profession that fuels on my passion are undoubtedly the winning side here," Mahzabin added.
"IPDC has been a partner in a number of milestone projects that were the first of its kind in Bangladesh. To become the most passionate financial brand in the country with special focus on youth, women and underserved areas. "Being a financing partner, IPDC encourages prevailing & potential SME entrepreneurs by offering tailored & affordable products with a vision to boost SME enterprises and empowering women nationwide," she concluded.
Mahzabin Ferdous, Head of Brand and Corporate Communication, IPDC Finance Limited
MBR: When did you feel the necessity to start digital marketing campaigns?
Mahzabin Ferdous: They say, God could not be everywhere, and therefore he created mothers. Likewise, we are more than grateful to have social media at our disposal to hunt for those we cannot reach physically.
We cannot deny the extent to which social media has steeped in our life for more than a decade now. Before we could even realize the evolution of it, the wave hit too fast. It was in the initial years of my career in a device brand back in 2011, where I was exposed to the alchemy of it.
MBR: How effective is digital marketing for financial sector, which has a middle-aged and above customer base?
Mahzabin Ferdous: Technically speaking, the product we deal with is a very high involving one with a challenging task of shifting consumer behavior. The decision making is not as swift as any other consumer good.
We take pride to be one of the most agile and impulsive NBFI to take advantage of the spur of the moment. IPDC being a youthful brand, won’t deny the fact that it caters most of the content towards the youth because we strongly believe this way we are building a tailormade potential customer base who will not only be aware but have substantial brand love in a span of five years from now.
However, considering the sudden shift in the demographics and behavior of the middle aged and above customer base, it indeed leaves a certain window for us to cater our services to them. We are quite transparent in terms of our understanding of relevant content making and targeting. The odds of hitting a target dramatically go up when you aim at it.
MBR: What impact the digital marketing campaigns have on accelerating business performance (from NBFI’s point of view)? Can you share some statistics with us?
Mahzabin Ferdous: The whole financial industry is playing around 58 banks and 32 NBFI. Fortunately, we have a had a wonderful ride since our flamboyant rebranding that took place at the end of 2016 and since then our very own brand tint magenta has been blissfully blazing around.
However, to be frank, we are yet to establish the concept of NBFI at household level.
Yet a large part of mass, perceives NBFI to be a corporate dealer than a service provider for an individual. Considering the penetration of internet in our country, I believe, digital marketing campaigns have a solemn role to bring the products of any NBFI at one’s disposal in the most reliant way. At this point of time, advancing with the virtue of collaboration is the wisest thing to do.
Currently, we are at the top in the NBFI sector with a fan base above 3lac in our official Facebook page. We have significantly increased our concentration on the quality and consistency of our communication on social media. While in Bangladesh, popular brands are maintaining an engagement ratio of around 2%-5%, we are consistently revolving there with our passionate inclusion in their daily Facebook intake.
MBR: Which digital marketing campaign of IPDC made its mark, according to you? What is special about it?
Mahzabin Ferdous: The passion and perseverance behind each campaign done so far is unbound. Within a very short span of time, we happen to have a bucket of campaigns to choose from. That something I speak of boldly, is our brand love campaigns. Regardless of our industry players’ indulgence on special days, we take it as the ground to exhibit our very own spirit for the day. We had some wonderful experience in our Valentine’s Day Campaign, where we asked people to share stories of untold romance of their parents rather than theirs. This instilled back the love from the roots of all existence in a family.
Likewise, we wanted to exhibit and celebrate each unsung story of victory in the lives of normal people under one platform which we called Bijoyer Jadughor and to our surprise we garnered more than 200 stories of victory at an individual and social level.
On Independence Day, we took a leap from the conventional message and instead asked people to question the comfort in the mediocracy of their life, more than 150 people used hashtag of #IwantIndependenceFrom with their respective concern,
We love to add the little extra joy in every festivity but not compromising on their real time needs, we gave away the most crucial and demanding bus tickets for a pool of travelers on the eve of eid. One of the most popular has to be the QR code generated CV application for the Unbounder Management Trainee Program followed by catchy reminders, we received a total 35,000 CVs with that campaign which was tremendous for such a brand at that time.
MBR: In global picture, which banks/NBFIs are creating remarkable and result-driven digital marketing campaigns? Could you share your favorite campaign with you?
Mahzabin Ferdous: Hands down any day To American Express “Small Business Saturday”. Its been eight years now yet the talk ability still lingers in our brainstorming sessions. To come up with a campaign that not only create buzz in the world with its engaging and evocative experience for the aspirant SME’s but itself leads to a distinct day forever is truly worth all the attention. A shopping holiday in the US was dedicated by AmEx on the first Saturday after Thanksgiving. The idea was to encourage shoppers to patronize bricks and mortar businesses that are small and local and began distributing resources to help local businesses capitalize on the day to draw attention to themselves. The brilliance of this campaign is that consumers and business did the groundwork themselves, massively reducing investment against reach, which generated more than one million Facebook “like” registrations and nearly 30,000 tweets under the Twitter hashtags #smallbusinesssaturday and #smallbizsaturday. We all aspire a few of such larger than mind campaign. To be on Advertising Age’s 21st Century Ad Campaigns is indeed a deserving one.
MBR: How do you see the digital marketing arena of IPDC Finance Limited in next 2/3 years?
Mahzabin Ferdous: Right now, we have anyway widened our scope of competition beyond the industry. We are competing nip and tuck with any other firm engrossed in everyday delight for their audience. However, like I mentioned earlier, to make people familiar with the whole idea of NBFI and its capacities that goes across the wings of a bank too. I believe by the end of 2020, we will find ourselves indulged in many more branded as well as user generated content which seems a bit ambitious at the moment.
Voice search has gone quite far globally, I would like to dig on it. By 2020, I believe this will give rise to new types of content that aren’t screen-based, podcasts are an interesting start, but in the future, more conversational, interactive forms of content will be in demand.
3 short interview of Brand professionals in Banking and Finance Industry
As the world of banking continually changes, ushers an era of all things digital. ICE Business Times speaks with the successful brand professionals who are making their mark in the financial industry. They explain the dynamics of the new age, the challenges of the market, and their passion for the job.
ANWAR EHTESHAM, HEAD OF BRAND, DHAKA BANK LIMITED
A Decade of Challenges and Changes
We are going through the most significant cultural shifts of our time. Attitude towards getting services, level of expectations from the service providers, service delivery/consumption process, media consumption patterns, information search methods, etc. are changing every day. Customers are getting more powerful and demanding; the banking Industry is also experiencing the same. Innovation and marketing are therefore getting essential not anymore for its growth only, but also for the survival.
Challenges in the Financial Industry
As per my understanding, the need of banks will reduce day by day, but the demand for banking (services) will increase at the highest possible pace. This dynamic indicates the rise of FinTech, payment gateways, more and more tech involvement into the banking system. So, banking industry must be in a position to embrace this shift and adapt accordingly. I think all banks should invest heavily in the technological capacity building. Dhaka Bank has already started addressing these issues. We have already introduced several technology-driven products/solutions namely, Dhaka Bank Go, Dhaka Bank Trade Cloud, Dhaka Bank BillsToCash, Dhaka Bank C Solution, etc. And we have plans to introduce more products in coming days. ‘Excellence in Banking’ end of the day is not a destination; it is the journey. Our core objective is to tap our products with everyday life which will mostly require technological advancement as well as customer need assessment.
“Customers are getting more powerful and demanding; the banking Industry is also experiencing the same. Innovation and marketing are therefore getting essential, not anymore for its growth only, but also for the survival.”
Passion for the Profession
Communications and Branding are perceived as support services in most Banks and NBFIs of Bangladesh (in banking terms, it is the ‘cost center’). However, it should have been one of the core areas. I enjoy my profession. It is because my profession involves dealing with people from diverse ideas as well as professions. I hardly find any monotony in my profession as every day is a new day; I don’t know what I’ll be dealing with in the next afternoon. Don’t get me wrong; we have preset marketing plans as well as budgets, individual and collective goals, activity calendar, etc. However, many unknown and unplanned agendas come to our priorities almost every month. I’ll say, this is the beauty of this profession and I love it.
We collect market data from different sources, i.e., competitors’ activities, industry insights, global shifts, supply and demand trends, social media content consumption and feedbacks, etc. In this hyper-connected society, it is challenging to meet the expectations of every single customer because the requirements and expectations are widely diverse. I think we are no longer in the era of generic banking; instead, we have already entered into the age of genetic banking. By genetic banking, I tried to mean that every customer is different (applicable to both retail and corporate customers) and needs to be treated differently. The more customization a bank can offer to its customer, the more success it will cherish in coming days.
Banking for the Win
There is a saying, ‘wherever there are customers to be reached; there is a need for a Marketer.’ I came to this profession by choice. I am more of a ‘people person.’ I love meeting new people; learn new things as well as share my thoughts with others. And I believe that marketing is the place that best matches my passion.
There are more than just one winning sides in this profession. I think this trade allows me to communicate directly (and sometimes indirectly) with the stakeholders. It gives me immense opportunities to deal with creative works such as design, image, copy, colors and most importantly the ideas and strategies. The job is sometimes a bit stressful. Working for late hours and on holidays is an everyday norm. However, it brings smiles when I see that our creatives and campaigns are not only making our organization profitable but also changing the overall industry landscape.
MD. SARWAR MATIN, HEAD OF PR & BRAND COMMUNICATION DIVISION, JAMUNA BANK LIMITED
A Decade of Challenges and Changes
Yes, Banking industry in the last decade has changed a lot. Especially internet and mobile communication made it very accessible to everyone and expectation has gone higher. Now we have to be more customer-centric while designing our product. Whereas a few years back it was straightforward with four basic products, Savings, Current, Fixed Deposit, and DPS.
From communication side, it is challenging for everyone. Customers are scattered across so many vehicles that you have to be present in all of them just to get noticed. So, for this profession, the challenge becomes understanding when and where your customer will be. So I have to keep an eye open for all recent trends and fads so that my brand always stays on top.
Challenges in the Financial Industry
I think customers are getting a hard time choosing their desired product as almost every bank’s offerings are same. I think every bank should focus on conveying the idea that customers’ assets are safe with us and he or she will gain more with our products instead of putting a lot of percentage and zeroes on our communication. Moreover, understanding of which customer group will be most benefitted by a specific product and aligning communication, branding everything around the designated group’s lifestyle should be the other proposition for every bank.
“The most important thing I like about my job is that I always have to stay ahead of the competition without sacrificing relevance with the market. Moreover, keeping the brand’s taste, voice, and language unique while continually innovating the message is another challenge I enjoy very much.”
Passion for the Profession
I just love my profession; it is a multidimensional discipline. The most important thing I like about my job is that I always have to stay ahead of the competition without sacrificing relevance with the market. Moreover, keeping the brand’s taste, voice, and language unique while continually innovating the message is another challenge I enjoy very much.
Banking for the Win
I fell in love with this profession during my student life while working with an agency part-time. I have grown up in this industry and sat on both agency and client side of the table so for me it’s like living your passion. The winning side for any brand professional is seeing people talk about your brand every day. Because only I know how much hard work I have to put on to make those Billboard/TVC a reality.
MAHZABIN FERDOUS, HEAD OF CORPORATE COMMUNICATION, IPDC FINANCE LIMITED
A Decade of Challenges and Changes
Well, I would state to differ. The dimensions of the branding and product launching in this industry have just started to take a flight in the recent years. Previously, we had seen that it was focused more on one to one communication based on relationship. Lately, we witness financial institutions making it rudimentary to fight regarding communication than merely the customer base in the lure to establish the brand. Fortunately, now the scope of branding has augmented from sheer promotion to earning credibility and advocacy of the products that eventually upshot the overall business. Over the years, IPDC Finance has reconstructed itself from its previous situation, built its capability and realigned its focus on youth, women and underserved areas. Steering its next phase with a magnificent relaunching event itself speaks louder of the unique dimension and power of branding in the financial sector today. I feel privileged to originate from a diverse background yet be one of the catalysts in the transformation that is taking place in the industry as well as the organization.
Challenges in the Financial Industry
Unlike products of other industries, the financial industry does not limit its efforts on research and innovation within the development phase of its products. It perseveres to tailor make the experience of the service keeping in mind the convenience and stable livelihood of the customers. Thorough insights are to be extracted and adapted to build a perception of integrity and reliability of the financial institution among the potential clients. Contrary to immediate consumption of goods offered by other industries, financial institutions work with the highest involvement products and services which lasts for decades, which makes it very crucial for each beholder of the brand to provide extraordinary customer service for its clients to ease their journey. We are here to comfort the years of turmoil to envision one’s desire by giving them the financial assistance to break the inertia of living unbound. This belief is the rationale behind our pay- offline “Jaago Ucchashe.” We aspire to build stories together in the excitement of a new car, the serenity of your own home, stepping in your higher studies, unlocking your new startup or just relaxing on a beach during your retirement. The passion for exploring the unbound possibilities of our stakeholders drives the motivation in each one of us.
“The relentless pursuit towards the unbound possibilities of marketing and communications drives the passion for my job.”
Passion for the Profession
I am absolutely in love with the consistency of change that keeps marketers like us hooked to the volatile environment. The relentless pursuit towards the unbound possibilities of marketing and communications drives the passion for my job. It is time to truly embrace the potentials of digitalization already than considering it as the new big bubble. I find my profession as a stepping stone of a mere opportunity to achieve the extraordinary. Since then, as the Head of Corporate Communication in IPDC Finance Limited, I along with my team have taken every brand campaign as a leap ahead from the customary wish post to a cause-driven theme apart from regular distinctive product campaigns. But of course, merely goal-oriented activity is never justified without being able to assess its success. Therefore, we are in the process of a thorough brand health study as we are approaching towards our one-year completion of revamp. We expect the vibrancy, passion, and perseverance of the brand towards extraordinary customer service to play an extra edge in surpassing other financial solutions available in the market. The re-branding event embarked a new journey to unfold pleasant experiences at different stages of our customers’ life to let them live unbound. I am pleased with the customer response so far.
Banking for the Win
I wouldn’t hesitate once to proclaim; I was born to be a marketer. From being curious of the surrounding, spotting trends before others, ability to connect the dots between different things from the very beginning of my cognitive senses and amalgamate all for a more significant purpose has always kept me interested. From the very beginning of my career, I’ve learned about 360-degree marketing including brand building, brand revamping, executing strategies by working with different agencies for three years. But to have an end to end understanding of all efforts necessary to meet the business goals. I moved to the corporate sector with time, which helped me visualize the bigger picture of each decision taken.
A daydreamer and a night thinker, above all a doer, I intend to make the best use of every experience I encounter in life, regardless of the positives or negatives connotation of the experience. We are on a constant lookout for innovative breakthroughs in the field of marketing. There are times when we revise the whole concept overnight to adapt to the sudden trends in social media. How precisely the nature of the field I work in compliments the view of myself fascinates me. Here at IPDC Finance, I can feed and calm the impulsive nature of myself and my job simultaneously. I believe, having a profession that fuels on my passion are undoubtedly the winning side here.
Get To Know Mahzabin Ferdous, Head of Brand & Corporate Communication at IPDC
Hi Mahzabin. Hope all is good. So, can you share with us a little bit about yourself, IPDC Finance Ltd. and your role in the organisation?
It’s all good by the grace of God, thank you. I believe that I am just another passionate soul feeding the hunger of the new day. I must say, I have been quite blessed to have found my passion in my career which is kind of rare lately. From being a protected daughter and caring teacher to a keen next-gen innovator, digital PR, and BTL practitioner, it has been a great decade of one of its kind creations.
If there is anything I fear, it must be stagnation. Be it in life or work, I wake up every morning hoping for something to drive me next. Don’t want to sound whimsical, but I left the previous organisation in a short because I was missing out on the thrill. And finally, landed here which was on its verge of a rebranding exercise. IPDC was on its onset to realign its focus on Youth, Women, and Underserved. Here I am part of the most unconventional financial institution in the country as the Head of Corporate Communication. We are constantly on the look for breakthrough innovation not only in the offerings but its communication.
Well, you are considered as one of the top marketing leaders in Bangladesh. What’s the secret?
I will have to figure out that statement though. However, over the years, I have come to an understanding that apart from the designated role, only by being more human such as approachable, kind and authentic to be specific, people will very likely connect deeper with you. Since the time, I have understood the value of it. I am just working towards a set of purpose and finding the sweet spot of difference.
How do you deal with the rapid changes happening in the marketing industry?
One just has to be simply curious. Just be alert and observant. At times it does occur to me if I was born to be a marketer. From being curious of the surrounding, spotting trends before others, realising the ability to connect the dots between different things has been my passion from the very beginning.
Now, if you simply just look at the way digital marketing has grown in the country over the last few years, it’s just unbelievable. As of March 31, 2019, internet user in Bangladesh accounts to 92,061,000 which is around 54.8% of the population whereby 91% of online consumers believe what they see online.
So the stake of winning or losing hearts is really high. Marketing is about trust thus if the customers believe the message is not credible, they will not listen to it and will not buy the product eventually. You just have to balance it the right way. As we are the only financial brand banking on human emotions unlike other players in the industry, we design our offerings and communication touching the desires of our customers.
You are successful both as a marketer and also as a mother. Now that’s a good balance right there. We thought it was a myth and you just prove it wrong. What’s the key to balancing both?
Mothers are technically manufactured with an extra edge perhaps. Being a mother of my twin sons, I have to listen to twice the stories on call while I am at my extra hours or late nights in the office. But it’s all part of the life now and a life I could not ask for any better. I believe I am doing well as a mother as long as I see my sons growing up to be good human beings. The rest, they shall figure it out. Having that belief on the personal capacity, I try to give the same level best professionally too.
What are the biggest challenges for the Bangladeshi women in the leadership roles?
To be very frank, the biggest challenge is having answers specifically on behalf of women. All of us are equally strong and empowered. One just needs to firmly believe so. We tend to forget that we have a choice. If you feel that you are not given the opportunity to grow and work on your potential, you have two options: You can either ask for it, or create it for yourself. Everything else – like nagging, blaming others, feeling sorry for yourself – will not change anything unless you try to put it all together. We should celebrate our leadership roles not because we accomplished those as a woman but worked for it.
Any advice to the next generation female marketers?
Actually, for marketing, it is important to have some innovative senses. You need the drive it forward and take risks, and secondly, the young people who want to be part of the marketing niche, they should be patient. You need to hang in there and give time so your roots become strong. Always have the interest to know and learn. Mostly young people have this habit of changing the mindset too frequently within a short period of time. This is not good. If they have the right amount of patience, the foundation will be stronger and when this happens, I am sure they will do well in this field.
How do you see 2019 from the perspective of IPDC?
In 2015, IPDC formulated a clear and strategic growth plan towards 2020 which will not only bring sustainable and profitable growth to the company, but also contribute to creating an impact on the societies’ ecosystem and at the same time achieving sustainable development goals of the country.
A Home for Every Family, Empowering Women, Creating Entrepreneurs and Going Beyond Megacities, Bringing Convenience at Home.
Since then we have been doing our groundwork, building our capabilities, integrating technological innovation and facilitating collaborations. We are still growing that too at the exponential growth rate. It was towards the end of 2016, that we rebranded ourselves significantly. With it, IPDC is all set to complete another year closer to the vision 2020 set by launching the most strategic product – an affordable home loan scheme across the country which is called “Bhalobasha Home Loan”.
This year, we have a few more products line up to be launched and one of them is the first ever blockchain based digital supply chain finance platform in the country, “Orjon”. This is going to be huge. And to deal with a big initiative like this, it will definitely require a 360-degree marketing stunt if we were to make a real impact. We are really looking forward to these as it will set to elevate IPDC as a brand into a new whole level altogether.
Anything special you’re personally aiming for this year?
Yes! This year is an onset of another milestone. Having completed a decade of learning and experience as a marketer, now I feel it’s time to explore myself deeper moving forward from this year. I see myself pretty much making the best use of all that I have garnered over the years through the theories and experience. At this point of time, collaboration is the key and maybe this shall take me forward to create something holistic for everyone to see.
What’s the best way to contact you?
I’m available at IPDC if you wish to find me in the office. Else if you are busy or lazy, find me on LinkedIn.
A talk with Mahzabin Ferdous
“A daydreamer and a night thinker, above all a doer, I intend to make the best use of every experience I encounter in life, regardless of the positive or negative connotations of the experience.”
As soon as Mahzabin Ferdous stepped into IPDC Finance Limited, she created history in the private sector of financial institutions of Bangladesh. Today IPDC is a Superbrand, a pioneer in innovative digital solutions, and her ability to take calculated risks has established many fundamentals today. She has successfully elevated a digital platform, molded it into a competitive one and has also won awards for her outstanding performances.
WIL: Share your childhood and educational background.
MF: Being the only daughter, I was pampered all through my life. I recently lost my parents and this question just floods me with emotions. My parents were always protective of my whereabouts and that’s where they helped me grow up as an obedient student. I was the one taking notes in class and that is still reflected in my MANCOM meetings where my fellow members always seek my minutes.
I went to Banani Bidyaniketan School and College, Rajuk Model College and later on to North South University. However, my practical experiences gathered over all these years helped built up my never-ending learning spirit.
WIL: How did you begin your journey into the corporate world? Is this what you always wanted / dreamt of?
MF: I actually wanted to become an engineer but with passing years, juggling numbers and tangled equations seemed tougher than life. When I got myself enrolled at the Economics department in North South University, somehow I was missing the connection between my passion and the subject I was pursuing. I gradually started spending time at an advertising agency with the guidance of an elder brother and that was the time when I developed the desire to enter the world of brands.
I initially taught at an English medium school but my first full-fledged job was when I joined a client service team of a renowned advertising agency. That’s where I finally felt that I was feeding my hunger for innovation. We worked around the clock, all the while brainstorming and reverting and finally bringing something close to our hearts in front of the world. That was very satisfying.
Soon after getting into branding and understanding its different spheres and corners from the agency point of view, I found it imperative to understand the proper blend of creativity and business while designing any campaign. And luckily, my first step into the corporate world happened to be a popular device company. The journey since then has been wonderful and here I am in IPDC today.
WIL: You seem to be always looking for a position that demands you to be on your toes. You are branding for financial products, how is that working out for you?
MF: I feel like marketing has always been my cup of tea. From being curious of the surrounding to spotting trends before others to connecting the dots between different things, everything has been parts of my life from the very beginning.
Here at IPDC Finance, I can feed and calm the impulsive nature of myself and my job simultaneously. I was excited to be a part of the rebranding exercise that IPDC was looking for at that time.
As we are the only financial brand banking on human emotions, we design our offerings and communications around the desires of our customers. Like any other marketer, we do come across the everlasting conflict between the brand and the sales team. But I thoroughly believe that every decision should add value to the brand and each penny spent shall act as a stimulus to grease the wheels of sales.
WIL: Did you ever face any barriers for being a leading lady in the world of finance? Has it always been easy?
MF: I have been blessed with a very amicable environment in all my workplaces so far. On professional terms, I believe that passion and perseverance alone should be able to beat any kind of barriers that come our way. Initially, I was the only female in the management committee of IPDC, but it never occurred to my mind until I am asked about it. So yes, I have always been super confident.
WIL: From Best Newcomer Award to Brand Builder Award, would you like to express gratitude to anyone at this moment?
MF: My late mother used to always say “Irrespective of what field you are in, be it professional or homemaker, you have to add extra values to make yourself shine out.” I believe everyone possesses the potential within the realm of possibility to go beyond their comfort zones and achieve unbound success.
WIL: Would you like to send out a message for all career women out there?
MF: There are 4P’s to 7P’s of marketing, but I would just end with 3P’s of my life – purpose, passion and perseverance. So when you find your purpose, do it with passion or don’t do it at all because perseverance is the secret of all triumphs.
An Interview With Mr. Mominul Islam
In the last two years, Industrial Promotion and Development Company (IPDC)-a non-banking financial institution (NBFI)- of Bangladesh has literally been going through a ‘Purple Patch.’
Their re-branded logo is more of ‘Pink’ color than ‘Purple’ though. Mominul Islam, the Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of IPDC meanwhile termed the color ‘Magenta’. ‘
Purple’, ‘Magenta’ or ‘Pink’-the color barely matters. Under the dynamic leadership of Mominul Islam-the youngest CEO of any major financial institutions of the country, IPDC has been able to create a ubiquitous presence that it lacked for a long time despite being the oldest private financial body in the country.
Fintech recently interviewed this brilliant young CEO and talked about IPDC’s revival as well as about the way of bringing dynamism in the country’s business sector.
FINTECH: Can you tell us about your journey in becoming one of the youngest CEOs in the financial sector of the country?
MI: After completing my BBA from Institute of Business Administration (IBA) in Dhaka University (DU), I joined the American Express Bank back in 1999 in its Chittagong branch. I worked in the branch banking for nine months. Within one year, I was adopted for a very challenging job of the head of projects and re-engineering. After successfully doing that job for some time, I was sent to London for Six Sigma Black Belt Training. It’s the advanced projects management training. I completed that training in 2001. After that I returned to Bangladesh and I was picked up for global transformation project management in Singapore, Hong King, UK and Chennai and for US.
I used the knowledge that I received in the Six Sigma training for process improvement and business transformation. So when I was working for advanced deposit structure products in Singapore, Hong-Kong and UK after completion for the project, I was nominated for the premier performer award. I believe that Six Sigma Black Belt training aids me a lot to be in the position where I am now.
In 2005, the American Express Bank planned to close down its operation and Standard Chartered Bank purchased its operation in Bangladesh. I was offered to stay with the American Express to work with the global transformation team but I opted for moving to Standard Chartered Bank rather than working with the global transformation team there.
I was also offered a post in Dubai but I declined as I didn’t want to travel that much at that time. I used to travel a lot during my career in American Express and I was tired of it. Besides, because of some family issue, I really didn’t want to move out from the country then.
After a short stint at Standard Chartered, in 2006, I got an offer from the IPDC. It was not an easy decision to take back then as from one of the best multinational banks in the world, I was offered to move to a small NBFI. But I love challenge and I saw potential of IPDC. Besides, my former boss at American Express Bank- Mr Shah Alam Sarwar (now the Managing Director of IFIC Bank) was heading IPDC at that time. So I decided to join there.
FINTECH: What was the situation in the IPDC back then?
MI: To be very frank, the situation of IPDC was bad then. IPDC was established back in 1981 and it was one of the oldest private financial institutions of the country. But when I joined there in 2006, it actually was in a pretty bad shape. It was in a vulnerable position as there was a huge pile of non-performing loans (NPL) which dragged the organization on the verge of collapse. The amount of non-performing loan was almost 43%. The organization was heavily depending on bank borrowing and long-term lending in the market. There was a huge liquidity crunch in the market at that moment and fund management on daily basis itself became a headache. Besides, there was no proper system in the company at that time. So basically it was an investment bank without proper governance, risk management framework and technological backbone.
So my first job as the head of operations was to have a proper organogram and organizational structure in place. I tried to have an understanding of the process and I tried to automate the system. It took around a year for me to re-structure the whole organization. I spent countless sleepless nights. I was working for straight seven days and there was no weekend for me.
In the meantime, several new people came into the organization but most of them didn’t stay there for long. In early 2008, when I was just 31 years, I was made the acting CEO of the company after our CEO left the organization. At that age, it was the biggest challenge that I ever took in my life. The pressure was immense.
I was having over 100 hours of work per week in the office. I was however taking that as challenge. I tried to have more fresh blood in the organization because I believed that fresh recruits out of university are driven by passion. They also have a dedication to prove themselves. I was in charge as the acting CEO for six months. Then another new CEO joined in. Within three months he also moved out. The board then thought of making me the CEO. The organization was very thin on senior management at that time. So my appointment as CEO was approved by the board and it was sent to Bangladesh Bank for its approval. Bangladesh Bank however said that I didn’t have the required experience to become a CEO. For becoming a CEO, I needed to have at least 12 years of experience which I didn’t have at that time. I only had 10 years.
The board understood the regulatory constraints. So they appointed a new CEO-Humaira Azam (now the DMD of Bank Asia). She was there for three years. By the end of 2011, she joined a commercial bank. By that time, I had gained my twelve year experiences. By the age of 35 years, I became the CEO of the IPDC in January 04, 2012. Now this is my sixth my years as the CEO.
FINTECH: IPDC is one of the oldest private sector financial institutions of the country. Why do you think it had gone into such a bad shape when you joined there?
MI: IPDC is first private sector financial institution in the country among banks and NBFIs. This company has a very strong heritage. The institutions which worked behind the formation of IPDC were World Bank Groups, IFC, German Development Organization, Commonwealth Development Organization, the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development (AKFED) and also the government of Bangladesh. At that time all the banks of Bangladesh were nationalized and there were only few foreign banks and nothing else. The only financial institution that was catering to the financial need of the local organization was Bangladesh Shilpa Hrin Sangstha. But there were lots of bureaucratic issues. For project appraisal, they used to take two years.
So there was a great need for a local private sector financial institution. Thus the journey of IPDC had begun in 1981 to cater the need of local emerging businesses. IPDC is behind the success of a number of large conglomerates and different ventures in Bangladesh at their incubation stage. We were behind Transcom, Pran, Square groups. The first private sector five star hotel –Westin-wasfinanced by the IPDC. Apollo hospital was financed by IPDC. Citycell, the first private sector telecom company, GMG, the first private sector airlines, Fantasy Kingdom, the first theme park. Holcim-the first preference share investment, Summit-the first independent power producer, DBH-the first housing finance company, Ekushe TV- the first private sector TV channel and Scholastica-the first institutional investment in private sector education- all were financed by IPDC.
IPDC was always at the forefront of new ventures and innovation. It also help created new products. It aided to establish first institutional venture capital in Bangladesh. We are the sponsor shareholder of three NBFIs-IDLC. IDLC was formed within IPDC with the help of IFC. IPDC and IFC was the sponsor shareholder. Then we introduce leasing in Bangladesh. We were the sponsor shareholder of the NBFI-National Housing which wanted to introduce housing finance in Bangladesh. We introduce the first preference share in Bangladesh through Holcim.
So there is no doubt that IPDC has established a strong legacy throughout the years. The problem is, while the innovation was there, there were lack of corporate governance and technological adaptability. These are very important for financial institutions. IPDC lacked those. Because of that, IPDC was falling behind of others.
You have to realize that in financial institutions, we are ultimately dealing with risk and our products are also risk. So without corporate governance and technological adaptation, you cannot manage risk properly. Besides, the business scenario can change with technological innovations. The taxicab sector was a very promising sector in Bangladesh and IPDC invested heavily there. Unfortunately, the taxicab sector never picked up. There were other bad investments as well. For a financial institution, it’s normal to have bad investment, but it’s important to learn from the failure and to re-design the investment portfolio with the learning from the failure. I believed, for a certain period in the IPDC, there was a lacking in doing so and because of that, the organization was on the verge of collapse.
FINTECH: What was the motivation behind IPDC’s re-branding? Why the tagline ‘Jaago Ucchashe’ has been used in the branding?
MI: In 2004, there is a change in the shareholding position. IFC sold their share to AKFED and AKFED becomes the majority shareholder in the company. The government has also retained its position and then we went for public listing in 2006 but still AKFED holds the controlling share in the company. Because of some past experience, they were very edgy about taking new shareholders in the company. Due to their conservative attitude, our competitors went ahead of us and become bigger. IDLC-of which we were the sponsor shareholder, became the market leader in the NBFI sector of the country. They expanded in many horizons. But IPDC remains stagnated.
So at that time, we were thinking deeply that what can be done to bring this company back to its iconic status. At that moment Brac came in and showed its interest. It was very beneficial for IPDC because AKFED didn’t have that much expertise or experiences Bangladesh, which Brac has. AKFED sold a part of its share to Brac and now it becomes the largest shareholder now. Brac now owns 25% of the share, Ayesha Abed Foundation owns 10%, AKFED owns 11%, the government owns 22%, RSA Capital run by Mahmood Sattar and Sameer Ahmed owns 5%, the institution owns 11.29%, foreign shareholders own 2.93% and the general public own 12.84%.
After Brac bought shares and joined IPDC, things got boosted. We were thinking of a massive and complete facelift of the company’s image. We sit, discussed and analyzed thoroughly about the need of the local market to identify our scopes and challenges. I personally believe in the mantra that where there are challenges, there are opportunities. The incorporation of Brac made us to look the potential market with scope for conducting socio-economic business.
But first, we felt that we would need to build a solid brand. Because when we enter into a large scale network of retial or SME sector, people have to be familiar with our brand to trust us with their money. So we re-launched the brand.
Bangladesh has come a long way since its independence. It now has become a land of opportunity and prosperity. So when we thought of re-launching our brand, we wanted to do that in such a manner that it would reflect this transformation of Bangladesh. So,we came up with the re-branding tagline-‘Jaago Ucchashe’.
It reflects that we want to harness the huge potential of the young entrepreneurs and we are asking them to come forward.
FINTECH: What are the main business focuses of the re-launched IPDC? Which sectors it is working on primarily?
MI: The true business is something by which you solve a problem in the society that no one else wants to solve. At the same time, you have to make sure that the solutions that you provide come in economically viable way.
So, when we re-launched our brand, we had set up goals for the next five years. In our goals, we wanted to build our capacity and expand the distributor network. We wanted to expand our territory to places where other financial organizations hesitate to go because we want to bring more inclusivity.
We found that there was a huge gap in the demand and supply in the housing market. In Bangladesh, the mortgage to GDP ratio-which is the leading indicator to understand the housing market scenario of a country, is only around 3%. To give a give context about how low that number is- I am giving you another number that in the developed countries, this ration is usually 80%. Malaysia has 45%, Thailand has 26%. Even our neighboring India has 10%. So there is a huge gap in this sector in Bangladesh.
The development in the real estate sector is only concentrated in Dhaka and Chittagong. Because of this, the property prices in these two cities have gone so high that a typical middle income family cannot afford an apartment, let alone a land here. So what happens, most of the middle income people buy a property at the end of their career with money from pension and provident fund and they can barely enjoy the home ownership at that age. Secondly, this also prompts corruption as a huge amount of undisclosed money is being spent in the real estate sector. This flow of black money into the real estate sector again increases the property price.
The practice in the real estate sector is also very unhealthy. The prevailing practice here is that people build the building in which they are going to live in a very inefficient manner. This is because of the cash constraint they have in constructing the building in one phase. Because of the time value of money, this type of constructions is actually proven to be a loss. Home is a very basic need. In Bangladesh, we have been able to uplift ourselves in such a position where we can say that our basic needs including food, clothing and education are met. But we still have a lot to do in the housing sector as well as in the healthcare sector.
You also have to understand that housing has a tremendous positive impact on GDP because housing has the highest multiplier GDP impact. There are around 234 industries that have direct linkages with the housing sector. So an investment of Tk 1 in the real estate sector basically has a multiplying effect of Tk 234 in the GDP. So IPDC wanted to work on this sector which is still not being addressed properly. It wanted to come out with idea to cater the need of people outside of the highly concentrated market in Dhaka and Chittagong.
So we have started providing affordable house loans. Our Home loan can be availed for up to 25 years and any amount supported by income. Generally, IPDC offers home loan 85% of the property value. The actual term and amount depends on the property value and customer profile. These Home Loans come with a very attractive built-in insurance policy to safeguard your most precious asset(s). We ensure the most robust coverage which protects your property from risks, such as death, critical illness, permanent disability, or perils (fire, cyclone, earthquake, etc.); relieving you and your family from the burden of the loan in the event of any such unforeseen circumstances, ensuring your dream home to be there for your family, forever.
We have also found ways to provide home loan in innovative manner. As expanding branch network is very expensive, for distributing home loan, we thought of finding new ways to reach to the customers. We have made contracts with BSRM and M.I Cement. There is no real estate company at the rural parts of Bangladesh and people build the houses by themselves by hiring engineers and architects. So they have direct exposures to the cement and steal dealers. When they go to the dealers of BSRM or M.I Cement, their agents informed the customers about the IPDC home loan. So basically we have expanded our network through collaboration with companies with mutual interest.
Besides, home loan we wanted to work for women empowerment. We saw that only 14% women is currently being employed in the formal sector. We also found that only 3.14% SME loans were given to women. So there was a huge gap there as well. So we wanted to reach out to give more loans with affordable interest to women. We believed that if women are empowered and they are given the chance to become a breadwinner, then it will do well for the family as well as for the society.
We also wanted to harness the huge potential of our youth and for that we have launched our youth entrepreneurship program. Every year, around 2.2 million young people enter into the labor force. However Bangladesh can only cater around 7,000,00-8,000,00 in the job market. So we wanted to build new entrepreneurs so that they wouldn’t only look for jobs rather start a business of their own.
IPDC has been using Brac’s large network. Brac is actively aiding to us to run our entrepreneur development program. Under the program 10 outlets are open in four cities where young entrepreneurs come to get training about new entrepreneurships. After they complete their training, they are offered financing from IPDC to start their businesses. We are also reaching out to different universities to motivate the young business graduates for entrepreneurship.
FINTECH: Who are in the boards of IPDC? Are they giving you enough freedom to run the organization? Also how your manpower is shaping up to take the challenge of a re-branded organization?
MI: We wanted to leapfrog, so we brought in people with dynamic experiences and leadership quality in our board. Dr Muhammad Musa is the current Chairman of the board now. He has an extensive background in leading humanitarian, social development, and public health organizations at international, cross-cultural settings. Dr Musa has worked for 32 years with CARE International as one of its senior international management professionals. He has long experience in strategic leadership, governing board management and executive-level management of large-scale operations.
Then we brought Mr Sameer Ahmad as a nominated director, who is a versatile investment banker with 20 years of experience encompassing the geographic areas of Europe, Middle East, Emerging Africa, and South East Asia. Mr. Ahmad has established himself as one of the leading investment bankers in Bangladesh. His presence at the board gives us the idea of venturing into new investment avenues. We also have Ms Nasreen Sattar as Independent Director, who is the first Bangladeshi women to become a CEO of a foreign bank on foreign soil. Her last assignment was as CEO for Standard Chartered Bank, Afghanistan where she successfully led the Bank over challenging and difficult times.
We have Amin H Manekia as the Vice Chairman. Mr. Manekia has a vast and diversified expertise in the field of marketing, finance, healthcare and banking. He has pioneered the concept of automatic beverage dispensing machines in India. We also have leading banking and finance industry figures like Mr Mamdudur Rashid, Additional Managing Director of Brac Bank and Salahdin Arshad Imam, a renowned independent financial consultant. Mr Asif Saleh, a senior director from Brac and Mr Shameran Abed from Ayesha Abed Foundation are in the board as nominated director.
From the government, we have Mr Sadaruddin Ahmed, an Additional Secretary with the Finance Division of the Ministry of Finance and Md Enamul Haque, an Additional Secretary with the Ministry of Industries.
So our board is comprised of these unique and talented individual helped IPDC to shape up in modern manner.
We have also tried to bring in best business graduates of the country as well the seasoned professionals working in the best institutions in the market. We have brought people from Nestle, Grameenphone, Samsung Electronics who have better understanding of the consumer behavior and also about the actual ability of the important market players. We also brought in people from multinational bank in the credit section of our institutions to conduct risk management in proper manner. For managing home loans, we brought people from DBH. So from just 100 people at the end of 2015, the organization now has over 300 people.
FINTECH: With adaptation of new technologies, many companies are actually letting a part of their workforce go. Under the circumstances, you have been hiring more manpower to run your company. Does that mean, IPDC is not adopting or embracing new technology?
MI: No, Not at all. You have to understand that, we were on the process of bringing a patient from the ICU to a general ward. IPDC was struggling for long to make an impact in the financial arena of Bangladesh. So we first wanted to give it a strong footing.
When I took the charge of the company in 2012, we had a loan portfolio of Tk 312 crore. Now we have over Tk 1,900 crore. Obviously, it’s not an exponential growth but it’s a steady and healthy growth. We also have a deposit portfolio of Tk 1,700 crore which was Tk 370 crore when I took charge.
From five small branches, we now have 14 branches.
By 2020, we want to have to have Tk 11,000 crore in our balance sheet. So that is the basically the amount that a mid-size bank has. For a commercial bank to bring that kind of radical transformation is very difficult. They are crippled by the legacy issues. It is very difficult for them to bring massive changes.
IPDC is a very compliant organization but at the same time, we are very agile. If you lo at our people, you will see that they are very young. Most of them are in their late twenties or thirty’s. This young workforce is by default tech-savvy. They want to do everything on-line and they want to do it with latest gadgets and technologies. So IPDC is bringing in more people to expand the network but at the same time, it is investing in technology to make the system more efficient and transparent.
We are also mulling ways to bring in more technology driven products in the market.
We know that the need for NBFI’s in the economy is twofold. The first is their specialization on particular sector which they can perform in quicker and more efficient ways than the commercial banks. That’s why there are housing finance companies or merchant banks. The other one is their innovative ways bringing new products. IPDC is running by these two mantras of NBFI and I believe we are succeeding in doing that.
IPDC on a roll - Innovative business models paid off, says its managing director
When a majority of financial institutions are struggling with default loans and a lack of corporate governance, IPDC Finance Ltd has achieved stellar success by rolling out a raft of successful business models.
“The success story of IPDC is an example for the entire financial sector,” said Mominul Islam, managing director of the non-bank financial institution.
IPDC’s journey was not smooth.
When Islam joined IPDC as the head of operations in 2006, its classified loan stood at 37 percent. It did not have proper corporate governance related model, risk management framework, technological module and dedicated loan recovery unit.
Since then, the country’s first private sector financial institution has grown from strength to strength by improving the whole system.
“Time-befitting initiatives and visionary targets have helped the NBFI become a good one,” Islam told The Daily Star in an interview.
The classified loan now stands at only 1.20 percent of its total outstanding loans of Tk 4,700 crore, far below the NBFI sector’s average NPL of 10.50 percent.
The volume of loans and deposits rose to Tk 4,432 crore and Tk 3,707 crore respectively in December last year, up from Tk 567 crore and Tk 399 crore four years ago.
IPDC enjoyed a healthy net profit of Tk 45 crore last year, up 34.16 percent from a year ago and 172 percent from four years earlier.
The NBFI has now decided to go big in the housing sector with a view to bettering its success, by providing loans to underprivileged clients living in the remotest parts of the country.
IPDC will increase its home loan to Tk 3,500 crore in contrast to around Tk 700 crore disbursed as of March this year.
“The country has enjoyed huge improvement in food sufficiency, education and healthcare, but a well-furnished home is pretty much missing from the achievement,” Islam said.
Islam, who has been serving the lender as managing director since 2012, said the majority of the lenders in Bangladesh usually offer home loans to the upper class and are focused on two mega cities Dhaka and Chattogram.
As a result, people who belong to low and middle-income groups and live in other parts of the country, have to build homes by using small savings, but the construction faces hiccup because of a shortage of funds.
In most cases, they require 10 to 15 years to build their dream home, meaning waste of time and money.
This prompted IPDC to introduce a nationwide affordable home loan product titled “Bhalo Basha” in February this year.
Clients, who earn a minimum of Tk 20,000 per month, are eligible to apply and take out a loan of Tk 50 lakh at an interest rate of 9.99 percent. The repayment tenure is a maximum 25 years.
IPDC has started to lend to people living outside of Dhaka and Chattogram. People from the lower middle-income group such as school teachers, nurses, and security guards will turn into our core clients if the roadmap is implemented.
“The initiative has received positive response and it will help expand IPDC’s business,” Islam said.
According to Islam, fund diversion is one of the key reasons behind the increasing default loans in the banking sector in Bangladesh, prompting IPDC to give full efforts to prevent the tendency and to pull off the success by establishing a strong monitoring cell.
The lender is now giving special attention to developing new women entrepreneurs as only 3 percent of the SME loans usually goes to them.
Women’s presence in the formal job sector is only 14 percent whereas 33 percent of the university students are female.
Last year, IPDC launched a dedicated credit product for women entrepreneurs named ‘Joyi’, which offers a maximum finance of Tk 50 lakh at an interest rate of 8 percent with a repayment period of one to five years.
“We want to disburse 30 percent of our total loans to women entrepreneurs by 2030. We have already taken several initiatives to materialise our plan,” said Islam, who completed BBA from the Institute of Business Administration of Dhaka University.
IPDC is still focusing on the SME sector as it has a great role in generating new jobs and 30 percent of its total outstanding loans have so far given out to the small and medium entrepreneurs.
Under the SME credit programme, it rolled out a digital supply chain financing product titled ‘Orjon’, enabling entrepreneurs to get a variety of short-term loans in the field of factoring, reverse factoring, work order and distributor financing. The product carries an interest rate of 11-14 percent.
Islam underscored the need to develop a vibrant bond market in Bangladesh as it is highly difficult for banks and non-banks to give long-term loans based on short-term deposits.
“We are working with the Bangladesh Bank and the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission to this end as a lively bond market must help ease liquidity pressure on banks and NBFIs,” he said.
Islam also touched upon the existing crisis in the financial sector, saying managements of banks and NBFIs should be allowed to operate freely.
“Boards should understand that banking and finance is not like other business. If proper management does not prevail, governance will face problem.”
Rizwan Dawood Shams, DMD and Head of Business Finance, IPDC Finance Ltd.
MBR:
Supplier finance have been a popular mode of SME financing around the world. Despite being in existence in Bangladesh for quite a while, why do you think supply chain finance hasn’t yet become a mainstream mode of SME financing?
Rizwan Dawood Shams:
I have observed that, due to consistent efforts by Bangladesh Bank and other local and multilateral agencies, the access to finance for SMEs have increased substantially in recent time. However, more often than not, these finances are of high cost, inappropriately structured, complex in process and do not adequately support the growth aspiration of SMEs. In this condition, Supply Chain Finance (SCF) can be a great financing tool for SMEs, allowing them access to collateral free, fast and easy financing irrespective of their size.
In recent years, Non-Bank Financial Institutions (NBFIs) have played a significant role in introducing supply chain finance to the big suppliers for domestic trade. In most cases, supply chain finance has now become somewhat of an exclusive product offered by Non-Bank Financial Institutions in this country. Though the Supply Chain Finance products were introduced in the financial market long ago, it withstands that SCF requires significant operational resources for the financing banks/FIs to effectively mitigate the operational risk involved in the process, thus resulting in slow penetration in Bangladesh market.
Besides, one of the major reasons is the lack of awareness among the SMEs regarding these sorts of unconventional financing facilities. Most of the SMEs are not aware of their eligibility to get supply chain finance in relatively easy terms and condition. Moreover, promotion and communication from financial organization’s end are still inadequate in volume. Because these products are operated in a completely manual environment, financial institutions are not able to expand the financing facility beyond mega cities. But as we can see, majority of the SMEs, who work as suppliers and distributors, do business outside megacities.
MBR:
Why corporate entities still don’t consider Supply Chain Finance as a financing option and rather go for composite facilities like CC, OD?
Rizwan Dawood Shams:
CC and OD facilities are very common and widely accepted among the corporate houses in Bangladesh. However, these facilities can only be offered by banks, and not non-bank financial institution. Therefore, IPDC cannot offer CC and OD to the corporate houses. But under Supply Chain Finance, we do offer Reverse Factoring Finance or Payable Financing to the corporates. Usually, we don’t focus on Reverse Factoring as our priority product because we know about their widely acceptable substitutes- CC and OD. The challenge is to overcome the corporates’ reluctance to collaborate with their suppliers in availing supply chain financing facilities. It is a deep-seated mindset of the corporate houses to condone any need for timely payments to their suppliers while they endeavor to maintain their own treasury needs. By delaying supplier payments as much as possible, corporates strive to maintain a regular Net Working Capital for themselves and in doing so, disregard the necessity of faster payments to small suppliers. Most of the times, corporates do not realize how important it is to ensure regular payments to their suppliers in order to maintain a healthy Supply Chain Management themselves.
By changing this outdated viewpoint that Corporates harbor about their suppliers and providing the advantage of unlimited financing through supply chain financing, our vision is to build better scopes for supply chain financing facilities over facilities like CC and OD.
COLLABORATION IS THE BIGGEST INNOVATION
You have been appointed as the CEO and Managing Director for the third term. It would be really inspiring to know from the leader himself about the initial days of your career to be the man of IPDC today?
It was right after the completion of my bachelors in Business Administration from IBA that I joined American Express Bank in Chittagong in 1999. Within a year, I was asked to head the projects and re-engineer them. I can still recall that fulfilling moment when I was sent to London after successfully delivering the project. I completed one of the most advanced project management – Six Sigma Black Belt Training by 2001. Since then, I have been on different global transformation project management teams in different countries such as Singapore, Hong Kong, UK, India, and US.
Six Sigma Training aided me in my endeavors towards process improvement and business transformation while I was working for advanced deposit structure products abroad. Following this, I was nominated for the Performer Award.
In 2005, when American Express planned to close down, Standard Chartered Bank purchased its operations in Bangladesh. I was offered to continue with American Express to work with the global transformation team, but I chose to move to Standard Chartered Bank.
In 2006, IPDC came into the picture. Honestly, it was a tough decision to move from one of the biggest multinational banks to a Non-Bank Financial Institution (NBFI) with a much smaller scale of business. But as I love to challenge myself, I was tempted to work as a change agent in a new environment irrespective of its stature.
Can you give us a glimpse of the changing picture of IPDC with your journey as one of the youngest MDs & CEOs of the industry?
IPDC was going through a rough patch with high Non-Performing Loans (NPL) of around 37%. Today that figure has gone below 1%. It was the need of the hour to formulate and implement new business strategies for IPDC, foreseeing how the company’s undertaking can be made more relevant to the socio-economic challenges and opportunities of Bangladesh in the next ten years. A Home for Every Family enabled 50,000 families to get a dream home, Automated Supply Chain Finance by enabling 25,000 MSE’s, Empowering Women by enabling 10,000 women to build financial and non-financial assets, Creating 2000 new Entrepreneurs, Going beyond megacities by enabling families of tier 2 and 3 cities to avail retail finance, Bringing Convenience Home by enabling 1000,00 families to enjoy home convenience goods have been made the key strategic pillars for the company. The company went through a successful rebranding exercise including a change in the company name and pay off the line, reflecting the change in its vision. The appropriate organizational capability was built in HR, distribution, IT and brand to make this revolution a success.
Innovative ideas have been put into place by forging partnerships with leading steel, cement makers and leading NGOs of the country to introduce home loans to lower-middle-income families in small cities and suburban areas where they were absent.
The team designed and initiated products featuring woman empowerment as we believe that the true essence of financial freedom for any woman comes from ownership of property. Hence, apart from lucrative augmented features like free driving sessions and so on, much-privileged loan and deposit interest rates are also accommodated, especially for females.
In a business, whether it is big or small, it is necessary to ensure proper liquidity and bridging of the gap between the processing of the order and receiving the payment. Sometimes businesses face a lack of funds to execute any order on time. To ensure better liquidity and empower businesses to execute their orders without any crisis of funding, IPDC offers work order financing for all types of businesses.
সাপ্লাই চেইন ফাইন্যান্স-ক্ষুদ্র-মাঝারি ও নতুন উদ্যোক্তাদের টেকসই উন্নয়ন ও ব্যবসার আর্থিক প্রবাহ সচল রাখতে একটি সহজ ঋণ সুবিধা।
ক্ষুদ্র ও মাঝারি শিল্প উদ্যোক্তা বা যে কোন ব্যবসা পরিচালনায় প্রতিনিয়ত ওয়ার্কিং ক্যাপিটালের প্রয়োজন হয়। সাপ্লায়ার, ডিস্ট্রিবিউটর তাদের দৈনন্দিন ব্যবসা পরিচালনায় কাঁচামাল ক্রয়, পণ্য বা সেবা সরবরাহ ও ম্যানুফ্যাক্সারের কাছ থেকে পণ্য ক্রয় করে সেসব পণ্য বিপণনে নিযুক্ত থাকে।নিজস্ব অর্থায়নে ব্যবসা আরম্ভ করে সেটা কাস্টমার-ম্যানুফ্যাক্সারার এর চাহিদা অনুযায়ী পরিচালনা করা সর্বদা সম্ভব হয়না। তখন ব্যাংক বা আর্থিক প্রতিষ্ঠানের কাছ থেকে ঋণ সুবিধা নিয়ে ব্যবসা পরিচালনা করতে হয়।ব্যবসার বয়স, ব্যবসার ধরণ, বর্তমান দায়-দেনা, জামানতের ধরণ বিভিন্ন বিষয় বিবেচনায় নিয়ে ব্যাংক বা আর্থিক প্রতিষ্ঠান ঋণ সুবিধা দিয়ে থাকে। এক্ষেত্রে ক্ষুদ্র ও মাঝারি শিল্প উদ্যোক্তা যারা পণ্য বা সেবা সরবরাহ, পণ্য বিপণন (ডিস্ট্রিবিউটর) করে, তারা বেশীরভাগ ক্ষেত্রেই ব্যাংক বা আর্থিক প্রতিষ্ঠানের প্রচলিত ঋণ সুবিধা গ্রহণ করতে পারেনা। এতে যেমন ব্যবসার ওয়ার্কিং ক্যাপিটালের স্বল্পতা দেখা দেয়, তেমনি ব্যবসা পরিচালনা কষ্টসাধ্য হয়ে পড়ে।
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নারীমাত্রই প্রযুক্তি কম বোঝেন এ ধারণা ভাঙছে
বাবা ছিলেন বাংলাদেশ বিমানের বৈমানিক প্রকৌশলী। ছোটবেলা থেকে বাবার পেশা প্রবলভাবে আকর্ষণ করত আলেয়া ইকবালকে। মূলত উড়োজাহাজ, ওড়ার কৌশল, যন্ত্রপাতি এসবই বেশি আগ্রহ তৈরি করে রেখেছিল। মেয়ের আগ্রহের কারণেই হয়তোবা বাবাও চেয়েছিলেন চার সন্তানের মধ্যে সবার বড় মেয়েটি নিজেকে বিমানের পাইলট হিসেবে প্রতিষ্ঠিত করুক। কিন্তু কন্যার আগ্রহ যে আকাশপথে উড়ে বেড়ানো থেকে প্রযুক্তিগত বিষয়ের প্রতি বেশি, সেটা তখনো বুঝে উঠতে পারেননি তিনি। অন্যদিকে গৃহিণী মায়ের চাওয়া ছিল আলেয়া যাতে ডাক্তার হন। তবে সেসবের ধারেকাছেও গেলেন না আলেয়া ইকবাল। বরং নিজেকে প্রতিষ্ঠিত করলেন প্রযুক্তি খাতে।
বাবার পেশার সুবাদে আলেয়ার বহুবার সুযোগ হয়েছে উড়োজাহাজের ভেতরটা ঘুরে দেখার। তবে তার আগ্রহ ঘিরে থাকত ককপিটে কী হচ্ছে না হচ্ছে এসব বিষয়ে। খুব স্পষ্ট করে বলা হলে— ছোটবেলা থেকেই প্রযুক্তিগত বিষয়গুলো খুব টেনেছে তাকে।
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Interview with Mr. Rizwan Dawood Shams, DMD, IPDC Finance
Streaking up the industrial ladder at the accelerating speed of a rocket taking off, Mr. Rizwan D Shams is one of the steering wheels behind the unbound rise of IPDC Finance. Indeed, like a Phoenix rising from the ashes, IPDC Finance has emerged as one the strongest and fastest NBFI in the country with his restless spirit to meet the goal.
FINTECH: When IPDC was founded there was a need for private sector FI, as banks were nationalized and there was problem of bureaucracy. What is the situation now? Are NBFIs living up to their expectations?
R D Shams: As an industry we can do even better, because the scope has widened. Situation and the economy has evolved a lot and I believe that the financial market in Bangladesh has enormous potential to grow. There are numerous sectors which need financing but due to the lack of proper channel and knowledge, these are untouched by the Formal Financial solutions. Every financial entities are trying their best to do something significant for the market and there are no longer any barrier/constraints for NBFIs to grow their businesses in current economic situation. So, to me, the opportunity and arena for NBFIs are not limited. Our ambitions are high, we dream high, and we believe in ourselves to lead the financing businesses in different new verticals.
NBFIs focus very strongly on corporate business where all are targeting the same few number of corporate clients. But, as per my understanding, there are enormous opportunity remain in other business sectors.That is why, a couple of years back, since our rebranding, we thought of changing and redesigning our business orientations.
FINTECH: Please tell us a little more about the redesigning the business orientation.
R D Shams: We decided to redirect our business focus and widen the geographical reach. We are diversifying our business focusing on customer centricity. Simultaneously, expanding business from urban to rural is in process to reach more and more unserved people.
As a part of business diversification, we are to develop the retail business sector. Still we consider corporate business as one of our important business sectors, but retail is the new blood line. We knew that offering only the conventional retail products would not bring any significant change. So, we decided to take the challenge of offering innovative products to the customers along with the conventional ones.
Mostly financial organizations are Dhaka-Chittagong focused, even, we barely see any house building developers outside these two mega cities. We have been working in these mega cities, but we are giving equal importance to the rest of the areas. Recently, we have launched “Affordable Home Loan” for middle income people to make their aspiration become reality. Our target area is not Dhaka and Chittagong, rather we offer this product to semi-urban to rural areas. So, if I say more precisely, if companies only target a few Dhaka-based clients then, at one point,they will reach the point of diminishing return. To find a better way out, we need to search for other market opportunities with less competition and place our products innovatively. There are currently 57 banks and 33 NBFIs*. If all of them want to give loans to handful of clients in Dhaka, then no one can make profit, and situation will end up setting price hikes. In contrast, other untapped markets have a vacuum, where people are not getting loan due to not having proper eligibility to get conventional loans.Though it is true that recovery is difficult in these areas, compared to corporate, but the size of these sectors is huge.
Initially, we are going quite small-scale with affordable home loan. Besides, we are also thinking about ‘Consumer White Goods Financing’. Under this product people will get loan facilities for buying consumer durables like television, refrigerator, mobile, smart TV, furniture etc. and our focus will not be limited to just Dhaka and Chittagong, but beyond that. If you are a school teacher working in a village and you want to buy a smart TV, and you aren’t likely to have one and half lakh taka cash. We want to empower this sort of customers to make their aspiration become reality through financing.
In addition to that, we are planning to transform one of our existing products named “Supply Chain Finance”. Currently we are doing the entire processing of Factoring Financing through manual intervention which requires lots of time and lacks process efficiency. From verifying the documents to processing the disbursement, whole process in manual system takes 1-2 days to Due to these barriers, only four to five NBFIs are offering this product. We are working on developing a new system to overcoming these barriers.
FINTECH: How are you going to overcome these barriers?
R D Shams: To achieve the process efficiency, we have been working on developing a digital platform for the entire supply chain finance processing. This platform will create an eco-system of all the organizations, suppliers and Distributors of the industry. We can easily reach all the stakeholders from every layer of supply chain system. As our target is Small and Micro Enterprises, we are given a grant from DFID under their ‘Business Finance for Poor in Bangladesh’ fundfor this venture. This will definitely help us to offer supply chain finance products to the root level.
So, our platform will automate the process. It will be a transparent system where we can see the number of invoices, work orders and demand orders have been issued by our clients. We can also track the whole supply updates without physical inspection. We are discussing with a globally renowned technological experts. We are excited to use Block Chain technology as the platform for this system.
FINTECH: When do you plan to deploy this?
R D Shams: We have been discussing and assessing different proposals from couple of international technology companies. If everything works out as per the plan, we will be in the market within a year. Meanwhile, we will continue to facilitate our existing clients with current products in manual processing.
FINTECH: Talk about the Blockchain technology you mentioned. Why you chose Blockchain?
R D Shams: There are ample possibilities of fraud in the current manual system. Invoices can be duplicated, mismatches can be happened between work order and invoice figure, Product can be rejected later, many more situation can arise.Actually, we are operating in a foggy environment.
There are so many technologies available in today’s world, but we needed the most secured, sharable, timely and easy application. Blockchain technology is the one which satisfied our all the requirements.It’s a shared ledger, real time processing, most secured platform and capable to process complex transactions in simpler way. This technology will change the whole ecosystem. The main benefit of this platform will be the transaction cost minimization. Most importantly, due to process efficiency, will be able to give loans at a very minimal rates to all the clients.
FINTECH: Do you worry about convincing your clients about the technology, given that Blockchain is a relatively new phenomenon?
R D Shams: Initially it may take massive effort for us to persuade the corporate clients and educate the suppliers and distributors. But the proper knowledge sharing, and communication will play a pivotal role to make them understand the benefits of this technology. Corporates are smart, they will surely understand that if their suppliers and distributors are benefitted, eventually they will be benefitted. From this technology, suppliers and distributors will also be able to get the required fund instantly, and they don’t have to wait for 60-90 days.
FINTECH: There was a history of huge Non-Performing Loans when you joined IPDC. How is the condition now and how you are managing that?
R D Shams: We had our own experience with NPLs and at a point, it was nearly 43 percent. That has dropped to .62 percent now, which is less than one percent. We are aware of not giving loans to corporate clients that can potentially become defaulters. Because, if a company lends 50 crore to one corporate customer and it fails, then that’s a big shock. But if you give, say, 50 lakh taka to hundred borrowers, then there is less possibility of everyone becoming defaulters. May be five will fail and the rest 45 will perform. Overall the risk will be shared and minimum.
Additionally, risk of offering new products is always present in business. New products give the market some new dimensions, so as the competition and risk. As I mentioned earlier, these target segments are a bit risky to facilitate with loans and get the repayment in proper manner. That is why we are taking effective measures to minimize the possibility of loan default.
FINTECH: You have SME products. It’s normally considered risky for practical reasons. What has been the response to your products?
R D Shams: Our long-term experience in dealing with NPL has made us efficient in recovery system. As per my experience MME financing is a very risky venture if the monitoring is not good. In my view, MME loan performance depends fifty percent on credit assessment and the other fifty depends on post monitoring.
We know, high risk lies in SME business if the client shuts the business. That time it becomes nearly impossible to track and recover that fund. So, no matter how good the loan is, if the post monitoring is not good then there is a much higher risk of default. Our recovery monitoring is very vigorous. We intensively follow up the client about his/her business performance. Irrespective of the overdue status, we follow a mechanism where our recovery people visit clients every month. This provides us with a very clear understanding of the client’s situation. Loan without proper monitoring is extremely risky, that’s a simple fact.
We started our MME business in 2009. Figures were not very impressive at that time. In 2015 we closed 40 crore taka in MME. But business changed rapidly. Now our MME portfolio is 900 crore taka. As per our vision, in next five years, our balance sheet will be eleven thousand crores, of which our core focus is on small-medium enterprises, supply chain financing and affordable home loan. If you look at our portfolio pie, it’s fifty percent corporate. The corporate segment in about Tk1900 crore. We want our balance sheet to grow, and it will be done through the other parts of the pie.
Corporate business will not be smaller, but it will not dominate singly our balance sheet. We actually want to enlarge our pie, with developing new segments, as well as maintaining a steady position of Corporate Finance.
FINTECH: You are running a campaign for women entrepreneurs. Tell us about that.
R D Shams: Financing women entrepreneurs is one of the most important aspects of our strategic goals. From 2017, it has been determined to uphold the women entrepreneurs in a more effective manner. Products have been designed, payment term and interest rates are also decided in favor of women to give a boost in their working capital. Recently, we launched a product in the last Women’s Day called ‘Joyee’.
To encourage our target people, we have launched a very lucrative offerloan facilities for women in 8% interest rate. I must add that these loan facilities are not any different from the conventional loan facilities, but the difference lies in the interest rate. Currently we are offering this offer for only those women entrepreneurs who are engaged in production/ service-based businesses.
To prevent exploitation of this we have a dedicated desk. Because, sometimes people make their wives the owner on paper, but they don’t really have any role or control over the business. So, we really look into this matter whether the women are actually carrying out the operation or not. We carry out interviews and take other necessary steps to ensure that.
We also have an interesting deal in home loan for women. If the owner of the flat is a female, we give a discount. When a husband gets a trade license issued under the wife’s name for getting a lower rate there is no guarantee that it’s for the woman’s benefit necessarily. But it’s not the same with property purchase. If the property is under the woman’s name that really empowers her, because she owns it. IPDC’s discount really gives a tangible incentive to the husband or the father or the brother to register the property under the name ofthe female family member. We believe this will create positive impact on women empowerment.
FINTECH: What kind or amount of fund you allot for this?
R D Shams: Currently, 14 percent of our loan portfolio is women in Retail sector. Besides, 1.06 percent MME portfolio and 6.01 percent MME Clientare Women Entrepreneurs.We want to increase the number exponentially to meet our strategic priority for next five years. Our board and shareholders are also supporting us in this matter.
FINTECH: Do you feel any impact of the recent problems, even crisis one might say, in the banking sector?
R D Shams: We are not outside of the market. I can’t say that we are unaffected by it.But I feel that there is still a panic in the market and the panic becomes bigger than the actual problem. As a NBFI, obviously a portion of our balance sheet is from bank borrowing. It’s not just us, it’s true for all other NBFIs. When banks lose public deposit that does affect us, because there must be a crunch. It’s basically a cycle. Banks can operate because they don’t allow the massive deposit withdrawals. Because, no banks can survive a complete withdrawal. But again, we can proudly say that there hasn’t been a single instance where a depositor came to us and we said that we can’t en-cash you today, come later. Even, you may have heard that many NBFIs stopped disbursement. But we can proudly say that we did not stop disbursement for a single day.
We had to take a different route to mitigate the liquidity crisis and simultaneously, ensure the sustainable business development of IPDC.We emphasized on hunting down deposit in the market, rather than selling loans.We see that the government has taken some steps. Now the market isn’t quite as tight as it was.The market is quite stable right now. This wasn’t the case just a couple of months ago.
I think, there is still need for funding in the money market. Banking sector is such a place where our raw material is money. If the price of the money increases, then there will be an impact. If we took money at six percent, now we have to take it for a nine percent. At one point of time it had even reached 11 percent. So, repricing of my portfolio occurs naturally. But specifically, as an individual player we don’t really feel any massive threat of this situation.
FINTECH: What’s ahead for IPDC in 2018?
R D Shams: Our focus is on our customers from far flung areas. To reach the untouched, we are relentlessly working on network expanding, customer centric offerings, business transformation, product innovation, prompt and efficient service delivery, and so on. We believe in simple communication because our customers want simple solution. We love to share and spread unbound happiness to every life. We are evolving, we are growing to become the most customer friendly and perusable financial company.
Thank you very much for your time.
You are welcome.
আলেয়ার আলো
আলেয়া আর ইকবাল। একজন সফল কর্মজীবী নারী। জন্ম থেকে কৈশোরের বেড়ে উঠা বাংলাদেশে হলেও, তারুণ্যের উল্লেখযোগ্য সময় কেটেছে বিদেশ-বিভুঁইয়ে। আলেয়ার বাবা ছিলেন বিমানের গ্রাউন্ড ইঞ্জিনিয়ার এবং মা একজন গৃহিণী। তিন বোন ও এক ভাইয়ের মমতাময় পারিবারিক বন্ধনে বেড়ে উঠেছেন তিনি। তবে পারিবারিক মায়ার বন্ধন কাটিয়ে বিদেশ পাড়ি জমাতে হয়েছে খুব অল্প বয়সেই।
আলেয়া উচ্চ মাধ্যমিকের পাঠ চুকিয়ে উচ্চ-শিক্ষা অর্জনের লক্ষ্যে মাত্র ১৭ বছর বয়সে পাড়ি জমান যুক্তরাষ্ট্রে। তিনি শহীদ আনোয়ার গার্লস স্কুল এন্ড কলেজ থেকে মাধ্যমিক এবং ভিকারুননিসা নূন স্কুল এন্ড কলেজ থেকে উচ্চ মাধ্যমিক সম্পন্ন করেন। এরপর যুক্তরাষ্ট্রের ক্যালিফোর্নিয়া স্টেট ইউনিভার্সিটি থেকে ম্যানেজমেন্ট ইনফরমেশন সিস্টেম বিষয়ে স্নাতক ডিগ্রি অর্জন করেন। পরবর্তীতে ইউনিভার্সিটি অব ওয়াশিংটন থেকে ট্রেনিং স্পেশালিস্ট বিষয়ে স্নাতকোত্তর এবং হার্ভার্ড কেনেডি স্কুল থেকে একটি এক্সিকিউটিভ প্রোগ্রাম সফলভাবে শেষ করেন। সবসময় পাশে থাকার আশ্বাস দিয়ে সাহস যুগিয়েছেন তার বাবা। বাবা নাকি সবসময় বলতেন, ‘জীবনে সাফল্য অর্জনের জন্য কোনো কাজে তোমার বাধা নেই এবং আমি সবসময় তোমার পাশে থাকব।’
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Innovative Use of Social Media in Marketing
With her very first step in the IPDC Finance Limited, country’s first private sector financial institution, she pulled out the most magnificent and biggest revamp in the history of non-banking financial institutions in Bangladesh as per the Customer/Stakeholder Impact Survey post rebranding.
Her ability to pioneer in innovative digital solutions by taking calculative risks has established many fundamentals today. Elevating a digital platform and moulding it into a competitive and award winning one is a no-brainer for her.
ব্যবসা প্রবৃদ্ধির শীর্ষে আইপিডিসি
২০১৬ সালে মালিকানা কাঠামোয় পরিবর্তনের অংশ হিসেবে দেশের প্রথম এনবিএফআই আইপিডিসি অব বাংলাদেশ লিমিটেডের পর্ষদে আসেন ব্র্যাক, আয়েশা আবেদ ফাউন্ডেশন ও আরএসএ ক্যাপিটালের প্রতিনিধিরা। এরপর প্রতিষ্ঠানের নাম পরিবর্তন করে রাখা হয় আইপিডিসি ফিন্যান্স লিমিটেড। পরিবর্তিত ব্যবসায়িক ফোকাসের ভিত্তিতে একই বছরের ডিসেম্বরে ব্যাপকভিত্তিক রিব্র্যান্ডিং কার্যক্রম হাতে নেয় পুঁজিবাজারে তালিকাভুক্ত আর্থিক প্রতিষ্ঠানটি। নতুন উদ্যমে এক বছরের পথচলার অভিজ্ঞতা নিয়ে সম্প্রতি বণিক বার্তার সঙ্গে কথা বলেন প্রতিষ্ঠানটির ব্যবস্থাপনা পরিচালক ও প্রধান নির্বাহী কর্মকর্তা মমিনুল ইসলাম। এক বছরের ব্যবধানে বিভিন্ন আর্থিক নির্দেশকে কোম্পানির অগ্রগতির পাশাপাশি প্রতিষ্ঠানের কিছু পরিকল্পনাও তুলে ধরেছেন তিনি। ঢাকা বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়ের আইবিএ থেকে বিবিএ করার পর স্নাতকোত্তর পর্যায়ে পড়েছেন অর্থনীতি। ২০০৬ সাল থেকে তিনি আইপিডিসির নানা গুরুত্বপূর্ণ পদে দায়িত্ব পালন করছেন। এর আগে আমেরিকান এক্সপ্রেস ও স্ট্যান্ডার্ড চার্টার্ডের মতো প্রতিষ্ঠানগুলোয় পরিচালন ঝুঁকি, সেবার মান, প্রকল্প ও রি-ইঞ্জিনিয়ারিংসহ বিভিন্ন ফিল্ডে কাজ করেছেন। যুক্তরাজ্যে সিক্স সিগমা ব্ল্যাক বেল্ট ট্রেইনিং নেয়ার পর বাংলাদেশ, সিঙ্গাপুর, যুক্তরাজ্য, হংকং ও যুক্তরাষ্ট্রে আমেরিকান এক্সপ্রেসের বেশ কয়েকটি সিক্স সিগমা প্রকল্প ব্যবস্থাপনার দায়িত্বে ছিলেন তিনি। সাক্ষাৎকার নিয়েছেন মাহফুজ উল্লাহ বাবু
মমিনুল ইসলাম
এমডি ও সিইও
আইপিডিসি ফিন্যান্স লি.
‘জাগো উচ্ছ্বাসে’। আইপিডিসির রিব্র্যান্ডিংয়ের এক বছর পূর্ণ হলো। সুফল পাচ্ছেন কতটা?
আপনারা জানেন, আইপিডিসির পর্ষদে পরিবর্তন আসার পর ডিএফআই (ডেভেলপমেন্ট ফিন্যান্সিয়াল ইনস্টিটিউশন) হিসেবে এর এজেন্ডা, ফোকাস এরিয়া ও কর্মকৌশলে কিছু গুরুত্বপূর্ণ পরিবর্তন আসে। এরই ধারাবাহিকতায় আমরা রিব্র্যান্ডিংয়ে জোর দিই। আর্থিক সেবার ব্র্যান্ডিংয়ে সবাই যখন আস্থা, বিশ্বাস, পাশে থাকার মতো ইস্যুগুলোকে সামনে তুলে আনে, আমরা তখন ‘জাগো উচ্ছ্বাসে’ স্লোগানের মানুষের অসীম সম্ভাবনা, উদ্যম আর উচ্ছ্বাসকে ফোকাস করলাম। এটি শুধু লোগো আর স্লোগানেই নয়, আমাদের চিন্তায়ও। মানবসম্পদ, পরিচালন কাঠামো, পণ্য ও সেবা সর্বোপরি সুশাসন সবকিছুতেই এর প্রতিফলন হচ্ছে।
রিব্র্যান্ডিংয়ের সুফল পাচ্ছে আইপিডিসি। এখন অনেক মানুষ আইপিডিসি চেনেন। ঢাকা-চট্টগ্রামের বাইরেও অতীতের যেকোনো সময়ের চেয়ে আমাদের পরিচিতি বেশি। আমাদের প্রডাক্ট ও সার্ভিসগুলো সম্পর্কে সমাজের বিভিন্ন স্তরের মানুষের জিজ্ঞাসা বেড়েছে। আমরা অনেক ব্যতিক্রমধর্মী অফার নিয়ে তাদের কাছে যাচ্ছি।
আমাদের আর্থিক প্রতিবেদনেও এ অগ্রগতির সুফল স্পষ্ট। চলতি বছরের প্রথম তিন প্রান্তিকে আমাদের ঋণ বিতরণ আগের বছরের একই সময়ের চেয়ে ৬৩ দশমিক ৩ শতাংশ বেড়েছে। আমানত প্রবৃদ্ধিও প্রায় ৬০ শতাংশ। সুদ আয়ে প্রবৃদ্ধি প্রায় ৭৪ শতাংশ। হালনাগাদ অনিরীক্ষিত আর্থিক প্রতিবেদনগুলো পর্যালোচনা করে দেখলাম, আর্থিক খাতে সেপ্টেম্বর পর্যন্ত এটিই সর্বোচ্চ প্রবৃদ্ধি।
চতুর্থ প্রান্তিক এখনো শেষ হয়নি। তবে নভেম্বর পর্যন্ত উপাত্ত বলছে, রিব্র্যান্ডিং-পরবর্তী এক বছরে আইপিডিসিতে গ্রাহকদের আমানত বেড়েছে ৭৫ শতাংশ। বিপরীতে লোন পোর্টফোলিও বেড়েছে প্রায় ৭০ শতাংশ। আমি যতটুকু জেনেছি, শতাংশের ভিত্তিতে ব্যাংক ও এনবিএফআই ইন্ডাস্ট্রিতে এ বছর এটাই সর্বোচ্চ প্রবৃদ্ধি। টাকার অংকে প্রবৃদ্ধি বিবেচনা করলেও এ বছর আমরা সম্ভবত এনবিএফআই সেক্টরে সবার চেয়ে এগিয়ে থাকব।
আর্থিক সেবায় উচ্চ প্রবৃদ্ধি নিয়ে শেয়ারহোল্ডারদের আবার কিছু ভীতি থাকে। আইপিডিসিরক্ষেত্রে কি ঘটছে?
বিনিয়োগকারীদের ভীতিটি অযৌক্তিক নয়। আর্থিক খাতে দ্রুত ব্যবসা বাড়াতে হলে কিছু পার্শ্বপ্রতিক্রিয়ার ঝুঁকি থাকে, বিশেষ করে প্রবৃদ্ধিটি যদি অর্গানিক না হয়।
আইপিডিসির অভ্যন্তরীণ আলোচনায় আমরা সবসময় বলি, স্ট্রংগেস্ট অ্যান্ড ফাস্টেস্ট। এটি হয়তো কিছুটা বিরল, তবে অসম্ভব বলার সুযোগ নেই। এজন্য প্রতিষ্ঠানের প্রতিটি উইংকেই সর্বোচ্চ পারফর্ম করতে হয়। বিজনেস মডেলটিও হতে হয় চমৎকার।
আর্থিক প্রতিষ্ঠান হিসেবে আমরাও ঝুঁকির ব্যবসাই করছি। তবে বাংলাদেশের অর্থনীতির একটি ইতিবাচক দিক হলো, এখানে অনেক আনঅ্যাড্রেসড ইস্যু আছে, অনেক সেবার চাহিদা সুপ্ত ও ব্যাপক। এসব চাহিদা শনাক্ত করে দক্ষভাবে ভালো সেবা দিতে পারলে নিজেদের ঝুঁকি কমিয়েও ফাস্টেস্ট হওয়া সম্ভব। আবার সামাজিক উন্নতিতেও প্রত্যক্ষ ভূমিকা রাখা সম্ভব। আইপিডিসি নিজের প্রডাক্ট ও অ্যাক্টিভিটিগুলো এমনভাবে ডিজাইন করছে, যা বাণিজ্যিক ভিত্তিতে বিভিন্ন সামাজিক সমস্যার সমাধানে সক্ষম। কোম্পানির প্রায়োরিটি এরিয়াগুলো সম্পর্কে বিস্তারিত বললেই বিষয়টি বুঝতে পারবেন।
উদাহরণ হিসেবে আমি আবাসন ঋণের কথা বলতে পারি। দেখুন, ঢাকায় ১০-১২ লাখ সচ্ছল গ্রাহককে আবাসন ঋণ দেয়ার জন্য পুরো আর্থিক খাত কত প্রতিযোগিতা করছে। আমার পর্যবেক্ষণ, ঢাকায় আবাসন ঋণের যত আবেদন আসে, তার প্রায় অর্ধেকই দ্বিতীয় ফ্ল্যাটটি কেনার জন্য। অথচ জেলা-উপজেলা পর্যায়ে স্বপ্নের একটি বাড়ি করতে গিয়ে কত মানুষ স্ট্রাগল করছেন। তাদের সার্ভ করতে পারলে আমাদের ব্যবসাও বাড়ে, আর্থসামাজিক উন্নয়নও বেগবান হয়।
মাল্টিপ্লাইড ইমপ্যাক্ট বিবেচনা করলে আবাসনে বিনিয়োগ থেকেই জিডিপিতে সবচেয়ে বেশি রিটার্ন আসে। এর সঙ্গে ২৩৭টি শিল্প প্রত্যক্ষ বা পরোক্ষভাবে যুক্ত। হাই এন্ডের হাউজিং ফিন্যান্সের বৃত্ত থেকে বেরিয়ে এসে মধ্যবিত্ত, নিম্নমধ্যবিত্তদের বেস্ট সার্ভ করার এজেন্ডা আমাদের। মুষ্টিমেয় গ্রাহক ও সম্পত্তির বাজারে ফিন্যান্সিং কেন্দ্রীভূত না করে আমরা সেটি সমাজের সব স্তরে ও সারা দেশে ছড়িয়ে দিতে চাই। ২০২০ সালের মধ্যে দেশে অন্তত ৫০ হাজার পরিবারের স্বপ্নের আবাসন গড়ার অংশীদার হবে আইপিডিসি। আইপিডিসির হাউজিং ফিন্যান্স অফারগুলো সারা দেশে ছড়িয়ে দিতে আগামীতে আমরা নির্মাণ শিল্পের পণ্য বিক্রেতা প্রতিষ্ঠানগুলোর সঙ্গে একটি অংশীদারিত্বে আসতে চাই।
সাপ্লাই চেইন ফিন্যান্সিংয়ের কথা বলি। আমরা একসময় প্রকল্প ঋণেই ঘুরপাক খাচ্ছিলাম। প্রকল্প যাচাই-বাছাই করে গ্রাহকের সম্পদের বিপরীতে তাকে ফিন্যান্স করতাম। সেখানে ক্যাশ ফ্লো যথেষ্ট গুরুত্ব পেত না। এমন ক্ষেত্রে কোনো কারণে ক্যাশ ফ্লো কমে গেলে ঋণটি গ্রাহকের জন্য গলার কাঁটা হয়ে দাঁড়ায়, আবার ঋণদাতাও চাপে পড়ে। এখন অনেক ক্ষেত্রেই দেখা যাচ্ছে, বিশেষ করে ছোট ও মাঝারি ব্যবসা প্রতিষ্ঠানগুলোয়, ক্যাশ ফ্লো জেনারেশনের সম্ভাবনা আর সক্ষমতা অনেক, তবে উদ্যোক্তার সম্পদ যথেষ্ট নয়। প্রকল্প ঋণ পাওয়ার যোগ্যতায় তারা পিছিয়ে, আবার তাদের টাকাও দরকার। সমাধান হিসেবে আমরা সাপ্লাই চেইন ফিন্যান্সিংকে গুরুত্ব দিলাম। একজন দক্ষ ও কর্মঠ ব্যবসায়ীর প্রাপ্তব্য বিলের বিপরীতে আমরা ৮০ শতাংশ পর্যন্ত ঋণ দিই। বিল পাওয়ার আগ পর্যন্ত তার ব্যবসাটি আমরা খুব ভালোভাবে মনিটর করি। অর্থাৎ এখানে মাত্র ২০ টাকা বিনিয়োগ করলে তিনি ১০০ টাকা বিল পাওয়ার মতো একটি ব্যবসা করতে পারছেন। পেশাদার সিলেকশন ও মনিটরিংয়ের কারণে ঋণদাতা হিসেবে আমাদের ঝুঁকিটিও কমে।
তৈরি পোশাক খাত বিকশিত হওয়ার পেছনে ব্যাক টু ব্যাক এলসির যে ভূমিকাটি ছিল, স্থানীয় ব্যবসা-বাণিজ্যে সাপ্লাই চেইন ফিন্যান্সিংও একই ভূমিকা রাখছে। কয়েকটি উদাহরণ দিই, আমাদের এক গ্রাহক ডিজিটাল সাইনের ব্যবসা করেন। কয়েক বছরের মধ্যে আমরা তার লিমিট ৫০ লাখ থেকে বাড়িয়ে ৪১ কোটি টাকায় উন্নীত করেছি। কারণ তিনি বিল পান দেশের সুপ্রতিষ্ঠিত করপোরেট হাউজ ও বহুজাতিকদের কাছ থেকে। এটিই আমাদের জামানত। আমরা অ্যাগ্রো প্রসেসর সিপির এক সরবরাহকারীর সাপ্লাই চেইন ফিন্যান্স করেছি। মাত্র দুই বছরে তার টার্নওভার সাড়ে তিন গুণে উন্নীত হয়েছে। ছোট ও মাঝারি প্রতিষ্ঠানগুলো এভাবে বাড়ার সুযোগ পেলে অর্থনীতি অনেক এগিয়ে যাবে।
আর্থসামাজিক উন্নয়নে নারী একটি গুরুত্বপূর্ণ ইস্যু। আমরা তাদের ক্ষমতায়নে বিশেষ ক্যাম্পেইন পরিচালনা করি। যেমন, লেডি আনবাউন্ড ক্যাম্পেইনের আওতায় পরিবারের নারী সদস্য একটি ঋণের আবেদন করলে তিনি কিছু বাড়তি সুবিধা পান, নারী উদ্যোক্তা তার পুরুষ প্রতিযোগীর চেয়ে কিছুটা কম সুদ দেন।
রিটেইলেও আমরা প্রচলিত সেবার বাইরে গিয়ে অনেক কিছু করছি। যেমন, অটো লোনে সবাই যেখানে নতুন বা রিকন্ডিশন্ড গাড়ি কেনার জন্য ঋণ দেয়, আমরা সেখানে মানুষকে সেকেন্ড হ্যান্ড গাড়ি কেনার জন্যও ঋণ দিই। কারণ এ সেবার চাহিদা আছে। আইপিডিসির কোনো ক্রেডিট কার্ড সেবা নেই। কারণ এটি এখনো ঢাকা-চট্টগ্রামেই সীমাবদ্ধ। সারা দেশের ভোক্তাদের জন্য আমরা কনজিউমার ফিন্যান্সিংয়ের বিকল্প সুবিধা নিয়ে ভাবছি। সেখানে আমাদের গ্রাহকরা ক্রেডিট কার্ডের মতো ইএমআই সুবিধায় বিনা সুদের কিস্তিতে বিভিন্ন পণ্য ও সেবা কিনতে পারবেন। ইলেকট্রনিকস, ফার্নিচার, এভিয়েশন, হেলথকেয়ার ইত্যাদি খাতে দেশের সব বড় ব্র্যান্ডের সঙ্গে অংশীদারিত্বে আসতে চাই আমরা। এছাড়া ডিজিটাল ওয়ালেট ক্রমবর্ধমান ই-কমার্সের যুগে আমাদের ব্যবসা আরো বাড়াবে বলে আশা করছি।
পুরো সলিউশনগুলো সহজ ও দক্ষ করার জন্য আমরা আইবিএমের সহযোগিতায় একটি আইটি প্লাটফরম করছি। সেখানে করপোরেট, এসএমই, রিটেইল ঋণের প্রক্রিয়া, সেবা সবকিছুই অনেক সহজ হয়ে যাবে। আমরা প্লাটফরমটির মালিক হলেও ইন্ডাস্ট্রির অন্যরাও এটি ব্যবহার করতে পারবেন।
ব্যবসায় আমাদের অগ্রাধিকার ক্ষেত্র ও অফারগুলোর দিকে তাকিয়ে দেখুন, জনবহুল বাংলাদেশে প্রতিটির চাহিদা কত বেশি হওয়া সম্ভব। মানুষের প্রকৃত চাহিদা বুঝে তাকে এগিয়ে নেয়ার মধ্যে ঝুঁকি সত্যিই অনেক কম। এজন্য বিজনেস মডেলের পাশাপাশি প্রতিষ্ঠানের কর্মীদেরও যোগ্য ও কমিটেড হতে হয়। আইপিডিসির লোকবল বাড়ানোর পাশাপাশি আমরা এগুলোও নিশ্চিত করছি। কর্মপরিবেশ বিশ্লেষণ করলে আপনার মনে হবে, আইপিডিসি কোনো ওয়ান সিইও কোম্পানি নয়, বরং সাড়ে পাঁচশ কর্মীই একেকজন সিইও। প্রত্যেকেই সিদ্ধান্ত গ্রহণে নিজের অবস্থান থেকে একেকজন সিইও।
স্ট্রংগেস্ট অ্যান্ড ফাস্টেস্ট ধারণাটির সপক্ষে আপনাদের একটি তথ্য দিই, এ বছর ৭৩ শতাংশ রাজস্ব প্রবৃদ্ধির পরও আমাদের খেলাপি ঋণের হার মাত্র শূন্য দশমিক ৪৮ শতাংশ। একটি আর্থিক প্রতিষ্ঠান গত কয়েক বছরে যেসব ঋণ দিয়েছে, সেগুলোর অবস্থা পর্যালোচনা করলেও বর্তমান পোর্টফোলিওর মান অনুমানের সুযোগ আছে। সিইও হিসেবে আমি এক্ষেত্রে আত্মবিশ্বাস প্রদর্শন করতে পারি।
আমি বলতে চাচ্ছি, সম্পদের মান ধরে রেখেও দ্রুত ব্যবসা বাড়ানো সম্ভব।
আইপিডিসির প্রফিটিবিলিটি কেমন? পুঁজিবাজারের বিনিয়োগকারীরা বিষয়টিকে বেশ গুরুত্বদেন।
আইপিডিসির প্রফিটিবিলিটি হয়তো পুঁজিবাজারের বিনিয়োগকারীদের দৃষ্টি আকর্ষণ করার জন্য এখনো যথেষ্ট হয়ে ওঠেনি। দেশের আর্থিক খাতে অন্যান্য ফাস্টেস্ট প্রতিষ্ঠানগুলোর সম্পদ প্রবৃদ্ধি যতটা, মুনাফা প্রবৃদ্ধি তারচেয়ে বেশি। আইপিডিসির বিষয়টি উল্টো। কারণ আমরা একটি ছোট পোর্টফোলিও নিয়ে পুনর্যাত্রা শুরু করি। এখন আমরা প্রফিটিবিলিটির চেয়ে টেকসই সম্পদ ও গ্রাহকভিত্তি বাড়ানোর দিকে বেশি মনোযোগী। দুই বছরের ব্যবধানে আমাদের ৭৭০ কোটি টাকার সম্পদ সাড়ে ৩ হাজার কোটি টাকায় উন্নীত হয়েছে। পাঁচটি শাখা থেকে ১২টি শাখা হয়েছে। দ্রুতই আরো পাঁচটি শাখা করার পরিকল্পনা আছে। আমরা আইটিতে আপ টু দ্য মার্ক হওয়ার জন্য বিনিয়োগ করছি। ব্যবসার সম্প্রসারণ পর্যায়ে এগুলোই যৌক্তিক। সেরা প্রস্তুতি নিয়ে বেশিসংখ্যক মানুষের কাছে পৌঁছে যাওয়ার পর প্রফিটিবিলিটি এমনিতেই বাড়তে থাকবে। মুনাফা হচ্ছে ব্যবসায় ভালো করার পুরস্কার।
একটি উদাহরণ দিই, আবাসন ঋণ প্রক্রিয়াকরণ থেকে শুরু করে অন্যান্য খরচ মিলিয়ে হিসাব করলে প্রথম বছর আমরা সেখান থেকে কোনো মুনাফাই করতে পারি না। তবে দীর্ঘমেয়াদি এ ঋণ থেকে পরের বছরগুলোয় আমাদের রেভিনিউ বাড়ে।
আইপিডিসির বোর্ড আগামীকাল থেকেই প্রফিট ম্যাক্সিমাইজ করার পরিকল্পনা করেনি। এর বদলে দীর্ঘমেয়াদে নিজ ব্যবসায় সেরা হওয়ার মিশন হাতে নিয়েছে। ২০২০ সালের মধ্যে আমরা হাউজহোল্ড ও নারীদের ফিন্যান্সিংয়ে এক নম্বর ব্র্যান্ড হতে চাই।
আমার বিশ্বাস, আমাদের পদক্ষেপগুলো বিশ্লেষণ করে বিনিয়োগকারীরা আইপিডিসির সম্ভাবনাটিকে অ্যাড্রেস করেছেন। গত দুই বছরে কোম্পানির শেয়ারের দাম তিন গুণ হয়েছে। এখানে বাজারের ঊর্ধ্বমুখী প্রবণতারও কিছুটা ভূমিকা থাকতে পারে। পিই অনুপাত ২০-এর ওপরে, তার পরও বাজারে এ শেয়ারের ভালো চাহিদা রয়েছে বলে শুনি।
শেয়ারহোল্ডাররা নিশ্চয়ই লক্ষ করেছেন, এ বছর আইপিডিসি প্রথমবারের মতো আইসিএবির বেস্ট প্রেজেন্টেড অ্যানুয়াল রিপোর্ট অ্যাওয়ার্ডে রানার আপ হয়েছে। আমরা প্রথমবারের মতো এ প্রতিযোগিতায় গেলাম। আগামীতে আমরা চ্যাম্পিয়ন হতে চাই। বর্তমানে কোম্পানির ঋণমান ‘ডাবল এ ওয়ান’। আমাদের লক্ষ্য, এটি ‘ট্রিপল এ’তে উন্নীত করা এবং ধরে রাখা।
সামাজিক দায়িত্ববোধের স্বীকৃতি হিসেবে এশিয়ান অ্যাসোসিয়েশন ফর ডিএফআই আইপিডিসিকে এশিয়ার অন্তত ৩০টি দেশের শত শত প্রতিষ্ঠানের মধ্যে সিএসআর চ্যাম্পিয়ন ঘোষণা করেছে। এর কারণ আমরা সিএসআরের আওতায় যা করি, ব্যবসার মাধ্যমেও সমাজের প্রতি একই দায়িত্ব পালন করছি।
শেয়ারহোল্ডারদের সঙ্গে আরেকটি বিষয় শেয়ার করতে চাই, তা হলো সুশাসন। আইপিডিসিতে এমডি হিসেবে আমি এককভাবে কোনো পরিচালকের সঙ্গে সাক্ষাৎ করি না। যেকোনো বিষয় আমরা পুরো পর্ষদের সামনে উপস্থাপন করি। আমাদের কোনো পর্ষদ সদস্যও পূর্বনির্ধারিত সভা ছাড়া আইপিডিসির অফিসে আসেন না। আইপিডিসিতে অভ্যন্তরীণ নিয়মকানুনগুলো নিছক কাগুজে নয়।
দেশের অর্থনীতি, আর্থিক খাত ও শেয়ারবাজার সম্পর্কে বলবেন
অনেক সমস্যার পরও আমরা দেখছি, দেশের অর্থনীতি এগিয়ে যাচ্ছে। ৩ বিলিয়ন ডলারের রিজার্ভ এখন ৩০ বিলিয়ন ছাড়িয়েছে। এ দেশে এখন আর কেউ না খেয়ে মারা যান না। শীতকালে দরিদ্র মানুষের মধ্যে কম্বল বিতরণ করতে গেলে দেখবেন, প্রত্যেকের গায়েই শীতের পোশাক আছে। এখন আমাদের চ্যালেঞ্জ মানুষের কর্মসংস্থান করা, জীবনমান উন্নয়ন করা। আর্থিক প্রতিষ্ঠান হিসেবে আমরা আমাদের কাজটুকু করে যাব।
মোটা দাগে আমি বলতে পারি, কিছু অব্যবস্থাপনা, অদক্ষতা আর সুশাসনের ঘাটতি— এই তিন সমস্যা ছাড়া বাংলাদেশ চমৎকার এগিয়ে যাচ্ছে। সমস্যাগুলো বেটার অ্যাড্রেস করলে অগ্রগতিগুলো আরো দৃশ্যমান হবে।
প্রত্যাশিত মাত্রায় না হলেও আর্থিক খাত অনেক এগিয়েছে। আবার সমস্যাও বাড়ছে। আমার পর্যবেক্ষণ হলো, যেসব ব্যাংক-এনবিএফআই নিজেদের নতুনভাবে গড়ে তুলছে, তাদের মার্কেট শেয়ার দ্রুত বাড়ছে। অদক্ষতা কিংবা সুশাসনে ঘাটতির কারণে অনেক প্রতিষ্ঠান খুবই পিছিয়ে গেছে। এভাবে চলতে থাকলে একসময় দ্বিতীয় ধারার প্রতিষ্ঠানগুলো খুবই দুর্বল হয়ে যাবে এবং প্রথম দলটি অনেক এগিয়ে যাবে।
শেয়ারবাজার সম্পর্কে প্রথমেই বলব, আইপিডিসি একসময় শেয়ারবাজারে কিছু বিনিয়োগ করত। তবে এখন করে না। আমি যোগ দেয়ার পর কোনো সেকেন্ডারি মার্কেট অপারেশন দেখিনি। আমাদের কোনো ক্যাপিটাল মার্কেট সাবসিডিয়ারিও নেই। অদূর ভবিষ্যতে বোর্ডেরও এমন কোনো পরিকল্পনা আছে বলে আমার জানা নেই। এর একটি ভালো দিক হলো, শেয়ারবাজারের উত্থান-পতন চক্রের সঙ্গে আমাদের প্রফিটিবিলিটি বা অ্যাসেট কোয়ালিটির তেমন যোগসূত্র থাকছে না। আর খারাপ দিক হলো, শেয়ারবাজার থেকে কিছু মুনাফার সুযোগ থাকলেও আমরা সেটি মিস করি।
তবে আইপিডিসি দেশের কয়েকটি ভালো ব্যাংক ও আর্থিক প্রতিষ্ঠানের উদ্যোক্তা নয়তো আইপিও-পূর্ব প্লেসমেন্টধারী।
দেড়-দুই বছর ধরে দেখছি, শেয়ারবাজারে ঊর্ধ্বমুখী ধারা ফিরে এসেছে। এটি অর্থনীতি ও কোম্পানির মৌলভিত্তির সঙ্গে সামঞ্জস্য রেখে যত এগোবে ততই ভালো। তবে অযৌক্তিক দরবৃদ্ধি ঝুঁকি বাড়ায়। এ বিষয়ে বিনিয়োগকারীদের অভিজ্ঞতা আমার চেয়ে অনেক বেশি।
আপনাকে ধন্যবাদ
বণিক বার্তাকেও ধন্যবাদ
আইপিডিসির অধিকাংশ কার্যক্রমই নারীকেন্দ্রিক
বেসরকারি খাতের প্রথম আর্থিক প্রতিষ্ঠান আইপিডিসি ফাইন্যান্স লিমিটেড। ১৯৮৩ সালে বেসরকারি খাতের ব্যাংকগুলো কার্যক্রম শুরু করলেও আইপিডিসির যাত্রা ১৯৮১ সালে। গত বছরের ডিসেম্বরে নতুন নামে ও লক্ষ্য নিয়ে পুনর্যাত্রা করে আইপিডিসি ফাইন্যান্স। এর মাধ্যমে আমানত ও ঋণ প্রায় দ্বিগুণ হয়ে গেছে। গ্রাহক আকর্ষণে অভূতপূর্ব সাফল্য পেয়েছে। নারী উদ্যোক্তা, তরুণ ও ভোক্তা ঋণে গুরুত্ব দিচ্ছে প্রতিষ্ঠানটি। প্রতিষ্ঠানটির বড় অংশের শেয়ারের অংশীদার সরকার ও ব্র্যাক। এ নিয়ে প্রথম আলোর সঙ্গে কথা বলেছেন আইপিডিসি ফাইন্যান্সের ব্যবস্থাপনা পরিচালক ও প্রধান নির্বাহী কর্মকর্তা মমিনুল ইসলাম। সাক্ষাৎকার নিয়েছেন সানাউল্লাহ সাকিব
প্রথম আলো: ২০১৬ সালের পুনর্যাত্রা করল আইপিডিসি ফাইন্যান্স। রি-ব্র্যান্ডিংয়ের পর কেমন পরিবর্তন এসেছে। আর্থিক সূচকে কতটা উন্নতি ঘটল?
মমিনুল ইসলাম: ২০১৬ সালের ২০ ডিসেম্বর আমরা নতুন করে যাত্রা শুরু করি। এর বড় উদ্দেশ্য ছিল ব্যবসা পরিকল্পনায় বড় পরিবর্তন আনা। আমরা রিটেইল ও এসএমইতে বেশি গুরুত্ব দিয়েছি। বিশেষ করে নারীদের উন্নয়নের বিষয়টাকে, যেটা দেশের জন্য খুব গুরুত্বপূর্ণ। এর মাধ্যমে আমরা আইপিডিসিকে দেশের অন্যতম একটি ব্যতিক্রমধর্মী প্রতিষ্ঠান হিসেবে গড়ে তুলতে চাই। এ জন্য আমরা ব্যাংকের লোগো, লক্ষ্য-সবকিছুতেই ভিন্নতা এনেছি। যার সবকিছুতেই রয়েছে তরুণ ও নারীবান্ধব ফোকাস। আইপিডিসি সম্পর্কে এখন দেশের অধিকাংশ মানুষ জানে। কেননা আমরা বেশ কিছু উদ্ভাবনী কাজ করে যাচ্ছি। আমরা ব্যাপক সাড়াও পেয়েছি। আর্থিক খাতের মধ্যে সবচেয়ে দ্রুত উন্নতি হচ্ছে আমাদের। ২০১৬ সাল থেকে এ বছরের সেপ্টেম্বর পর্যন্ত আমাদের ঋণ ও আমানত বেড়েছে ৭৫ শতাংশ, নিয়মিত আয়ও বেড়েছে ৭৩ শতাংশ। আমাদের গ্রাহকসংখ্যা প্রায় দ্বিগুণ হয়েছে। বর্তমানে আমাদের গ্রাহকসংখ্যা ৪ হাজার ৩৬০। খেলাপি ঋণ দশমিক ৫০ শতাংশের কম, যা পুরো খাতের মধ্যে সর্বনিম্ন।
প্রথম আলো: নারীবান্ধব প্রতিষ্ঠান হিসেবে নারীদের জন্য বিশেষ কী সুবিধা দিচ্ছে আইপিডিসি?
মমিনুল ইসলাম: আইপিডিসির অধিকাংশ কার্যক্রমই নারীকেন্দ্রিক। ফ্ল্যাট নেওয়ার ক্ষেত্রে তা যদি কোনো নারীর নামে কেনা হয়, তাহলে গৃহঋণে আমরা একটা ভালো ছাড় দিই। অটো ঋণের ক্ষেত্রে নারীদের জন্য বিনা মূল্যে ড্রাইভিং প্রশিক্ষণ দেওয়া হয়। অনেক নারীরই ইচ্ছা থাকে যে, তিনি নিজে গাড়ি চালাবেন। তাই আমরা এই ব্যবস্থা করেছি। আমরা খুব শিগগির ৫০০ নারীকে ড্রাইভিং প্রশিক্ষণ দিতে যাচ্ছি, যাঁরা একটি অ্যাপসের মাধ্যমে বাইক চালাবেন এবং সেই বাইকের যাত্রীও হবেন নারীরা। এতে কর্মসংস্থানও হবে। আমাদের ইচ্ছা, আগামী তিন বছরে কমপক্ষে দুই হাজার নারীকে ড্রাইভিং প্রশিক্ষণ দেওয়া। পরে তাঁদের সাশ্রয়ী মূল্যে বাইক কিনতে সাহায্য করা হবে।
প্রথম আলো: কোন সেবাকে বেশি গুরুত্ব দিচ্ছে আইপিডিসি?
মমিনুল ইসলাম: প্রথম অগ্রাধিকার হলো, ২০২০ সালের মধ্যে কমপক্ষে ৫০ হাজার পরিবারকে নিজেদের স্বপ্নের বাড়ি নির্মাণে সহায়তা করা। এটা শুধু রাজধানীর মধ্যে সীমাবদ্ধ না রেখে জেলা শহরগুলোতে ছড়িয়ে দেওয়া। দেশের তরুণ উদ্যোক্তাদের সহায়তা করতে চাই। এ জন্য সরবরাহ ব্যবস্থাটাকে গুরুত্বের সঙ্গে দেখছি। আমরা নারীর ক্ষমতায়নে বিশ্বাসী। সে জন্য নারী উদ্যোক্তাদের জন্যও কাজ করে যাব।
প্রথম আলো: আর্থিক প্রতিষ্ঠানগুলো তো নিয়মিত আমানত নিতে পারে না। এরপরও আইপিডিসির আমানত প্রায় দ্বিগুণ বেড়েছে। মেয়াদি আমানতে কাদের থেকে বেশি সাড়া মিলছে?
মমিনুল ইসলাম: ব্যক্তি এবং প্রতিষ্ঠান উভয় খাত থেকেই সাড়া মিলছে। বিমা প্রতিষ্ঠান, বিভিন্ন ব্যবসাপ্রতিষ্ঠান আসছে। কম পরিমাণ টাকা আমানত গ্রহণের সুযোগ রাখায় অনেক নারীও আসছেন। গত এক মাসেই আমানতের ক্ষেত্রে উল্লেখযোগ্য সাড়া পেয়েছি। ২০১৬ সালের ডিসেম্বরে আমানত ১ হাজার ৭১৭ কোটি টাকা থাকলেও গত সেপ্টেম্বরে তা বেড়ে ২ হাজার ৭৪৩ কোটি টাকা ছাড়িয়েছে।
প্রথম আলো: সেবা ছড়িয়ে দিতে তো বিভিন্ন জেলায় শাখার প্রয়োজন। আইপিডিসির তো সেই নেটওয়ার্ক নেই।
মমিনুল ইসলাম: ঢাকার বাইরে আমাদের ১২টি শাখা আছে। নিজস্ব শাখা অফিস ছাড়াও বিশ্বের সবচেয়ে বড় বেসরকারি প্রতিষ্ঠান ব্র্যাকের মাধ্যমে আর্থিক সেবা কার্যক্রম পরিচালনার পরিকল্পনা নিয়েছি। এ জন্য আমরা ব্র্যাকের সঙ্গে একটি সমঝোতা স্মারক স্বাক্ষর করেছি। দেশের প্রান্তিক অঞ্চলের জনগণকে আর্থিক সেবা কার্যক্রমের আওতায় আনার পরিকল্পনা রয়েছে আমাদের।
প্রথম আলো: আর্থিক খাতে দক্ষ জনবলের একটা বড় সংকট চলছে। এ ক্ষেত্রে আইপিডিসির অভিজ্ঞতা কেমন?
মমিনুল ইসলাম: আইপিডিসির পরিসর খুব দ্রুত বাড়ছে। এ জন্য জনবলও বাড়াতে হচ্ছে। বর্তমানে যারা আইপিডিসিতে কাজ করছেন, তারা প্রত্যেকে নিবেদিত এবং দক্ষ। এ রকম শক্তিশালী জনবল পাওয়া যেকোনো প্রতিষ্ঠানের জন্যই ইতিবাচক। ভালো কর্মীর খোঁজে আমরা বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়গুলোতে গিয়েছি, অভূতপূর্ব সাড়া পেয়েছি। আমরা সব সময় তারুণ্যকে প্রাধান্য দিয়ে থাকি।
প্রথম আলো: বর্তমানে বেশ কয়েকটি আর্থিক প্রতিষ্ঠানের অবস্থা খুবই নাজুক। গ্রাহকদের জমা টাকা ফেরত দেওয়ার সক্ষমতা হারিয়েছে অনেকেই, এর কারণ কী?
মমিনুল ইসলাম: যেকোনো প্রতিষ্ঠান পরিচালনায় স্বচ্ছতা খুবই জরুরি। তাহলেই সুফল হওয়া যায়। এই খাতে প্রতিদ্বন্দ্বিতার চেয়ে সহযোগিতাটাই বেশি জরুরি। যাঁদের অবস্থা নাজুক হয়েছে, তার মূল কারণ হলো পরিচালকেরাই প্রতিষ্ঠান পরিচালনা করেছেন। ঋণ কাকে দেওয়া হবে, তা নিয়মের ভিত্তিতে না হয়ে পরিচালকদের ইচ্ছাতেই হয়েছে। এ কারণে বেশ কয়েকটি প্রতিষ্ঠান সমস্যার মধ্যে পড়েছে। তবে এদিক থেকে আমরা খুবই ভালো অবস্থানে আছি। সব পেশাদার আমাদের পর্ষদে আছেন।
প্রথম আলো: আপনাদের ভবিষ্যৎ পরিকল্পনা কী?
মমিনুল ইসলাম: আমাদের পরিকল্পনা আছে নতুন বছরে আইপিডিসিকে সম্পূর্ণ ডিজিটাল করে সাজানোর। মার্কেটিংয়ের ক্ষেত্রেও বড় একটি পরিবর্তন আশা করছি। গ্রাহককে সেবা দিতে আমরা নতুন করে পরিকল্পনা করছি। এ ক্ষেত্রে প্রযুক্তির ব্যবহার করা হবে।
IPDC's 'iridescence to widen financial inclusion'
IPDC Finance Ltd has achieved resounding successes in all segments of its businesses in the outgoing calendar year and vows to perform better in the coming months with a re-branded image of the company, country's first private sector DFI.
In December 2016, the company changed its name to 'IPDC Finance Ltd' and re-launched its brand to remain vibrant in corporate, SME and retail segments.
"Our performance in 2017 was excellent in all business parameters due to the robust presence of our newly re-branded image and our latest products feature iridescent values to our core clients," Mominul Islam, managing director & CEO of the company told The FE recently.
He said the diligence and professionalism of the working human resources were the main reason for the rip-roaring success of the company and asserted that the country's whole financial complexion will be changed riding on the concerted efforts from all stakeholders.
As of September 30, 2017, the company's total deposit portfolio and total loan portfolio were Tk 27.44 billion and Tk 31.82 billion respectively.
The company earned Tk 886 million as revenue and Tk 220 million as profit till September 30, 2017.
The company earned Tk 841 million and Tk 303 million as revenue and profit respectively in the whole year of 2016.
The company's latest figure shows the classified loan ratio stood at 0.8 per cent.
"Under our strategic roadmap, we like to craft stories in the areas of home loan, automated supply chain finance, creating entrepreneurs, providing factoring finance and breaking glass ceiling," Mr Mominul Islam said.
Under the roadmap, the company will enable 50,000 families to get a dream home and cover 25,000 MSEs to be under the automated supply chain finance.
"We will enable 10,000 women to build financial and non-financial assets, create 2,000 new entrepreneurs, enable families of tier 2 and tier 3 cities to avail retail finance and provide home convenience goods to 0.1 million families under our visionary roadmap which will ultimately make us the top consumer financial brand in the country," the IPDC MD disclosed.
The company has now 12 branches across the divisional cities of the country and six of them were opened in last one year.
Established in 1981, IPDC Finance Ltd was previously known as Industrial Promotion and Development Company of Bangladesh Ltd.
The founding shareholders of the company are Government of Bangladesh, Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development, International Finance Corporation, German Investment and Development Company and Commonwealth Development Corporation.
Later, BRAC, Ayesha Abed Foundation, RSA Capital Ltd and general public became the shareholders of the company.
General public owns 12.24 per cent shares of the company which was listed on the Dhaka Stock Exchange in 2006.
Commenting on developing the overall corporate sector of the country, he said the government should move proactively to launch a robust bond market.
"The tax regime should be reduced to attract the clients in the bond market and the government will hopefully consider this proposal with utmost sincerity to ensure proper and cheap financing from bond market for the long-term investment," the IPDC MD opined.
According to Policy Research Institute of Bangladesh, the country needs to spend $20-30 billion a year on infrastructure development. Now it spends $8.0 billion.
"Similarly, the country needs huge amount of money to finance long-term projects in energy, power and other core areas and a robust bond market could be a very good source to finance such costly projects at a comparatively lower cost," the IPDC MD said.
তৃণমূলে কম সুদে গৃহঋণ দেবে আইপিডিসি
নতুন নামে পুনর্যাত্রা শুরু করেছে ইন্ডাস্ট্রিয়াল প্রমোশন অ্যান্ড ডেভেলপমেন্ট কম্পানি বা আইপিডিসি। গত বছরের ২০ ডিসেম্বর কম্পানিটির নতুন নামকরণ হয়েছে আইপিডিসি ফাইন্যান্স লিমিটেড। ‘জাগো উচ্ছ্বাসে’ স্লোগানে নতুন ব্যবসায়িক পরিকল্পনা নিয়ে প্রতিষ্ঠানটি গ্রামেগঞ্জে সাধারণ ভোক্তা পর্যায়েও তাদের আর্থিক সেবার প্রসার ঘটাতে চায়। কালের কণ্ঠর বিজনেস এডিটর মাসুদ রুমীকে দেওয়া এক সাক্ষাৎকারে আইপিডিসির ঘুরে দাঁড়ানোর পরিকল্পনাসহ নানা বিষয় নিয়ে কথা বলেন আইপিডিসি ফাইন্যান্সের এমডি ও সিইও মমিনুল ইসলাম
দেশের ব্যক্তি খাতের প্রথম আর্থিক প্রতিষ্ঠান হিসেবে ১৯৮১ সালে প্রতিষ্ঠার পর থেকেই আইপিডিসি ফাইন্যান্স শিল্প, বাণিজ্যিক এবং শিক্ষা খাতের উন্নয়নে অনুঘটক হিসেবে কাজ করছে। শুরুতে এর শেয়ারহোল্ডার প্রতিষ্ঠানগুলো ছিল-আইএফসি; জার্মান ইনভেস্টমেন্ট অ্যান্ড ডেভেলপমেন্ট কম্পানি (ডিইজি), দি আগাখান ফান্ড ফর ইকোনমিক ডেভেলপমেন্ট (একেএফইডি), সুইজারল্যান্ড; কমনওয়েলথ ডেভেলপমেন্ট করপোরেশন (সিডিসি), ইউকে এবং বাংলাদেশ সরকার। তবে বর্তমানে বেসরকারি সংস্থা ব্র্যাক আইপিডিসি ফাইন্যান্সের একটি বড় শেয়ারহোল্ডার। ব্র্যাকের যুক্ত হওয়ার প্রেক্ষাপট সম্পর্কে জানতে চাইলে আইপিডিসি ফাইন্যান্সের এমডি ও সিইও মমিনুল ইসলাম বলেন, ‘আইপিডিসির বেশির ভাগ শেয়ারের মালিক ছিল আগা খান ফান্ড ফর ইকোনমিক ডেভেলপমেন্ট। ব্র্যাকের সঙ্গে কৌশলগত সমঝোতার মাধ্যমে আগা খান ফাউন্ডেশন তাদের শেয়ার ব্র্যাককে হস্তান্তর করে। ব্র্যাককে সঙ্গে নিয়ে আমরা পাঁচ বছরের কৌশলগত পরিকল্পনা প্রণয়ন করি। এভাবেই শুরু হলো আমাদের পুনর্যাত্রা।’
বাংলাদেশের অনেকগুলো খাতের প্রথম প্রতিষ্ঠানের শুরু হয়েছে আইপিডিসির অর্থায়নে। ব্র্যাকের প্রতিষ্ঠাতা স্যার ফজলে হাসান আবেদের স্বপ্ন আইপিডিসি আবার তাঁর আইকনিক স্ট্যাটাস পুনরুদ্ধার করুক। নতুন ব্যবসায়িক পরিকল্পনা বাস্তবায়ন করতে আইপিডিসি ফাইন্যান্স নতুন রোডম্যাপ প্রস্তুত করেছে। আইপিডিসির কৌশলগত পরিকল্পনার মধ্যে অগ্রাধিকার খাত সম্পর্কে জানতে চাইলে মমিনুল ইসলাম বলেন, ‘আমাদের কৌশলগত পরিকল্পনার প্রথম কথাই হচ্ছে গৃহঋণকে সবার সামর্থ্যের মধ্যে আনা। দ্বিতীয়ত, নারীর ক্ষমতায়নে কাজ করা। নারীরা কোনো আমানত রাখলে আমরা সুদের হার বাড়িয়ে দিচ্ছি। গৃহঋণ নেওয়ার সময় বাড়িটা স্ত্রীর নামে রেজিস্ট্রেশন করলে কম সুদে ঋণ দিচ্ছি। নারী কোনো গাড়ির ঋণ নিলে তাদের ফ্রি ড্রাইভিং প্রশিক্ষণ দেওয়া হচ্ছে। আমরা তরুণ ও নারী ফোকাসড ব্র্যান্ড হয়ে উঠতে চেষ্টা করছি। তৃতীয়ত, নতুন উদ্যোক্তা সৃষ্টি করা। আমরা ২০২০ সালের মধ্যে দুই হাজার নতুন উদ্যোক্তাকে ঋণসহায়তা দেব। সে ক্ষেত্রে আমরা গুরুত্ব দেব নারীদের। চতুর্থত, মেট্রোপলিটন শহরের বাইরে প্রসার ঘটানো। পঞ্চমত, গৃহসজ্জায় অর্থায়ন।’
সবচেয়ে বিশ্বস্ত একটি আর্থিক প্রতিষ্ঠানে পরিণত হওয়ার লক্ষ্যে আইপিডিসি ফাইন্যান্স ‘জাগো উচ্ছ্বাসে’ নামে একটি নতুন থিম উন্মোচন করেছে, যা প্রতিষ্ঠানটির নতুন করে যাত্রার কথা বলে। রিব্র্যান্ডিংয়ের পর আইপিডিসি ফাইন্যান্সের অগ্রগতি খুব ভালো বলে জানালেন প্রতিষ্ঠানের প্রধান নির্বাহী। তিনি বলেন, ‘২০১৫ সালের শেষে আমাদের ৬০০ কোটি টাকার ঋণ ২০১৬ সালের ডিসেম্বরে ২০০০ কোটি টাকা দাঁড়িয়েছে। তিন গুণের বেশি ঋণ প্রবৃদ্ধি হয়েছে আমাদের। ২০১৭ সালের জুনে তা ৩০০০ কোটি টাকায় দাঁড়িয়েছে। আমাদের ডিপোজিটে আরো বেশি প্রবৃদ্ধি হয়েছে। গত বছরের ডিসেম্বরের সঙ্গে এ বছরের জুন পর্যন্ত তুলনা করলে আমাদের মুনাফা প্রায় আড়াই গুণ বেড়েছে।’
দুই হাজার নতুন উদ্যোক্তা তৈরির লক্ষ্যে ঢাকা বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়ের ইনোভেশন অ্যান্ড এন্টারপ্রেনার ল্যাবের সঙ্গে যুক্ত হয়েছে আইপিডিসি। আগামী ৫ থেকে ১০ বছরে যেসব খাত সবচেয়ে গুরুত্বপূর্ণ হয়ে উঠবে সেখানে আইপিডিসি যুক্ত হবে জানিয়ে মমিনুল ইসলাম বলেন, ‘গৃহ নির্মাণের বিকাশ মূলত ঢাকা ও চট্টগ্রামকেন্দ্রিক। শহরতলিতে গেলেই চোখে পড়বে, অসংখ্য পড়ে থাকা অর্ধনির্মিত বাড়িঘর। তাদের পুরো বাড়ি নির্মাণের টাকা নেই। আমরা এই সংখ্যাগরিষ্ঠ মানুষকে কম সুদে ঋণ দিয়ে বাড়ি বানানোর সুযোগ করে দেব। ১০ লাখ টাকা দিয়ে মফস্বলে একটা সুন্দর বাড়ি বানানো যায়। একজন মফস্বলের মানুষকে ১০ লাখ টাকা ঋণ দিলে তিনি একবারেই বাড়ি বানিয়ে ফেলতে পারেন।’
এ জন্য রড এবং সিমেন্টসহ সংশ্লিষ্ট কম্পানিকে সঙ্গে নিয়ে কাজ করবে আইপিডিসি ফাইন্যান্স। আইপিডিসির নিজস্ব কার্যালয়ের পাশাপাশি দেশজুড়ে ব্র্যাকের মাধ্যমেও গৃহঋণের তথ্য প্রদান ও যোগাযোগ প্রতিষ্ঠা করবে আইপিডিসি। চলতি এই বছরের ডিসেম্বরের মধ্যে অন্তত ৪০টি জেলাতে গৃহঋণ নিয়ে প্রচারণা চালাবে প্রতিষ্ঠানটি। দেশের মধ্যবিত্ত শ্রেণির মানুষের বিকাশের সঙ্গে সঙ্গে তাদের জীবনমান উন্নয়নে আইপিডিসি অবদান রেখে যাবে উল্লেখ করে প্রতিষ্ঠানের ব্যবস্থাপনা পরিচালক বলেন, ‘একটা ভালো বাড়ি জীবনমান উন্নয়নের অন্যতম অংশ। বাংলাদেশে এক কোটি পরিবার আছে যাদের মাসিক আয় ৩০ হাজার টাকার ওপরে। এই সংখ্যা দ্বিগুণ হবে। গৃহায়ণের জন্য এই দুই কোটি পরিবারের গড়ে আড়াই শতাংশ (৫ লাখ) মানুষকেও যদি আমরা ২০ লাখ টাকা ঋণ দিতে পারি তাহলে অর্থায়নের পরিমাণ দাঁড়াবে এক লাখ কোটি টাকা।’
‘আমরা গাড়িতে বেশি ঋণ দিতে পারতাম, কিন্তু তা করিনি। আমরা শহরের বড় ঋণগ্রহিতা যাদের কোটি কোটি টাকা ফ্ল্যাটে ঋণ দেই, এদের সংখ্যা মাত্র ১০-১২ লাখের মতো। কিন্তু আমরা যাদের কথা ভাবছি তাদের সংখ্যা দুই কোটি হবে। ২৬টি ব্যাংক ও আর্থিক প্রতিষ্ঠান যাদের গৃহঋণ দেয় তারা মূলত ঢাকা চট্টগ্রামনির্ভর। ঢাকার বাইরেও একটা সুন্দর বাড়ি করা সম্ভব। এটা এখনো খুব পরিকল্পিতভাবে কোনো ব্যাংক ও আর্থিক প্রতিষ্ঠান করছে না।’
বর্তমানে আইপিডিসির শাখার সংখ্যা ১২টি। এ বছর আরো চারটি এবং আগামী বছর আরো ১৫টির মতো শাখা খোলার পরিকল্পনা রয়েছে প্রতিষ্ঠানটির। আইপিডিসির সিইও বলেন, ‘আমাদের সম্প্রসারণ করার ইচ্ছা ঢাকার বাইরে। বাংলাদেশ ব্যাংক অন্তর্ভুক্তিমূলক প্রবৃদ্ধি অর্জনে সহায়ক নানা নীতিমালা গ্রহণ করছে। এই কার্যক্রম ত্বরান্বিত করতে হলে আমাদের আরো বেশি তৃণমূলে যেতে হবে। আমরা ভালো প্রবৃদ্ধি করছি কিন্তু তার সুফল সবাই সমানভাবে ভোগ করতে পারছে না। আইপিডিসি অন্তর্ভুক্তিমূলক প্রবৃদ্ধিতে নতুন গতি জোগাবে।’
খুব কম সময়েই আইপিডিসির কলেবর বেড়েছে তিন গুণ, মন্দঋণ নেমেছে শূন্যের কোটায়। প্রতিষ্ঠানটির শ্রেণীকৃত ঋণ ৪৩ শতাংশ থেকে কমে এখন মাত্র ০.৪১ শতাংশে নেমেছে। আইপিডিসির আরেকটি অগ্রাধিকার খাত হচ্ছে ক্ষুদ্র ও মাঝারি শিল্প (এসএমই)। এসএমই ও কৃষিভিত্তিক শিল্পে স্বল্প সুদে অর্থায়নে বাংলাদেশ ব্যাংকের পুনরার্থয়ন তহবিল ব্যবহারের জন্য সম্প্রতি চুক্তি করেছে প্রতিষ্ঠানটি।
২০২০ সালের মধ্যে ১০ হাজার নারীকে ক্ষমতায়িত করতে চায় আইপিডিসি। প্রতিষ্ঠানের শীর্ষ নির্বাহী বলেন, ‘আমরা নারীদের জন্য কম সুদে ঋণের পাশাপাশি ডিপোজিটে বেশি ইন্টারেস্ট দিচ্ছি। গৃহঋণের ক্ষেত্রে বাড়ি গৃহকর্ত্রীর নামে রেজিস্ট্রি করলে ইন্টারেস্ট রেট কম হবে। গাড়ির ঋণের ক্ষেত্রে ঋণগ্রহীতা নারী হলে তার জন্য ফ্রি ড্রাইভিং প্রশিক্ষণের ব্যবস্থা করেছি। ব্যবসায় নতুন নতুন ধারণা নিয়ে যেসব নারী উদ্যোক্তা এগিয়ে যেতে চায় আমরা তাদের মূলধন দেব ব্যবসায় সহযোগিতা করার জন্য।’
মমিনুল ইসলাম বলেন, ‘আমরা এমনভাবে এগোব যাতে ২০২০ সালের মধ্যে আমরা সেরা আর্থিক প্রতিষ্ঠান হতে পারি। এরপর আমাদের টার্গেট থাকবে পরবর্তী ৫ বছরের মধ্যে ব্যাংকগুলোকে ছাড়িয়ে যাওয়ার।’
ভারতের এইচডিএফসির উদাহরণ দিয়ে তিনি বলেন, প্রতিবছর ৭০ হাজার কোটি টাকা গ্রহঋণ দেয় এইচডিএফসি। আমরা তাদের কাছ থেকে অভিজ্ঞতা নিচ্ছি। আমরা চাচ্ছি গৃহঋণ, নারীর ক্ষমতায়ন, এসএমই, কৃষি প্রক্রিয়াজাতকরণ, সাপ্লাই ফাইন্যান্স এবং উদ্ভাবনী বড় প্রকল্পে একটা বিশেষায়িত জায়গায় যাওয়ার। এ ছাড়া আমরা প্রযুক্তিনির্ভর ব্যবসায় গুরুত্ব দিচ্ছি।
বৈশ্বিকভাবে ঋণের সুদহার বেড়ে যাওয়ায় দেশীয় উদ্যোক্তারা স্থানীয় উৎস থেকে অর্থায়নে ঝুঁকবে বলে মনে করেন এই অভিজ্ঞ ব্যাংকার। তাঁর মতে, মূলধনী যন্ত্রপাতি আমদানি বেড়েছে। রাজনৈতিক স্থিতিশীলতা অব্যাহত থাকলে বিনিয়োগ আরো বাড়বে। অর্থনীতিতে খুব সত্বর বড় চ্যালেঞ্জ আছে বলে মনে হয় না। তবে প্রবৃদ্ধি যেভাবে হচ্ছে সেভাবে কর্মসংস্থান বাড়ছে না। কর্মসংস্থান বিহীন প্রবৃদ্ধি আমাদের জন্য সুখকর নয়। কর্মসংস্থান বৃদ্ধি করে এমন অর্থনৈতিক কর্মকাণ্ড বাড়ানো আমাদের জন্য বড় চ্যালেঞ্জ। প্রবৃদ্ধির সঙ্গে তাল মিলিয়ে মানুষের জীবনমানের উন্নয়ন করতে চায় আইপিডিসি।
দেশের অর্থনীতি নিয়ে আশাবাদী মমিনুল ইসলাম বলেন, ‘মধ্যম আয়ে যাওয়ার আমাদের আরো দক্ষতা প্রয়োজন। ধারাবাহিক প্রবৃদ্ধি ও কম অর্থনৈতিক অনিশ্চয়তা, বিনিয়োগকারীদের জন্য ভালো। কারণ বাংলাদেশের মতো প্রতিবছর ৬-৭ শতাংশ প্রবৃদ্ধি হচ্ছে এমন বাজার খুব কম আছে। আমাদের দেশে যারা ব্যবসা করছে তারা সবাই মুনাফা করছে। বিএটি, বার্জার, নেসলে, জিএসকে, গ্রামীণফোন, ইউনিলিভারসহ দেশে বিদেশি কম্পানিগুলো ভালো মুনাফা করছে। কিন্তু আমাদের কান্ট্রি ব্র্যান্ডিংয়ের অভাব রয়েছে। আমাদের এয়ারপোর্টে যখন কোনো বিদেশি বিনিয়োগকারী নামেন তখন তিনি এখানকার ব্যবস্থাপনা দেখে হতাশ হন। আমাদের প্রথম অভিজ্ঞতাটা আরো ভালো করতে হবে, আন্তর্জাতিকভাবে আরো ব্র্যান্ডিং করতে হবে।’
আইপিডিসির লক্ষ্য মানুষের জীবনের ইতিবাচক পরিবর্তন
ইন্ডাস্ট্রিয়াল প্রমোশন অ্যান্ড ডেভেলপমেন্ট অব বাংলাদেশ লিমিটেড (আইপিডিসি) প্রতিষ্ঠিত হয় ১৯৮১ সালে। দেশের বেসরকারি খাতের প্রথম আর্থিক প্রতিষ্ঠান এটি। প্রত্যাশিত সাফল্যের পর একসময় প্রতিষ্ঠানটি সব দিক থেকে অস্তিত্বসংকটে পড়ে। তবে সে সংকট কাটিয়ে অল্প সময়ের মধ্যে চলে আসে প্রথম সারিতে। বর্তমানে আইপিডিসি শুধু লাভজনকই নয়, বিজনেস মডেল হিসেবেও একটি উদাহরণ। আইপিডিসি’র ঘুরে দাঁড়ানোর গল্প ও অন্যান্য বিষয় নিয়ে সম্প্রতি শেয়ার বিজের সঙ্গে কথা বলেছেন প্রতিষ্ঠানটির ব্যবস্থাপনা পরিচালক ও প্রধান নির্বাহী কর্মকর্তা মমিনুল ইসলাম। সাক্ষাৎকার নিয়েছেন তানিয়া আফরোজ
শেয়ার বিজ: সংকটাপন্ন একটি সময় অতিক্রম করেছে আইপিডিসি।সময়টি ঠিক কতটা চ্যালেঞ্জিং ছিল?
মমিনুল ইসলাম: ২০০৬ সালে যখন আমি এখানে যোগদান করি, প্রতিষ্ঠানটির জন্য সেটা একটা কঠিন সময় ছিল। আমি হেড অব অপারেশনস হিসেবে যোগদান করি। কিন্তু সে সময় কোনো অপারেশন বিভাগ ছিল না। আমাদের শ্রেণীকৃত ঋণের পরিমাণ ছিল ৪৩ শতাংশ। পুরোপুরি ব্যাংকঋণের ওপর নির্ভর করতে হতো। খেলাপি ঋণের তথ্য প্রকাশিত হওয়ার পর, ব্যাংকগুলোও টাকা তুলে নিয়ে চলে যাচ্ছিল। শুরু হলো তারল্য সংকট। এটা তখন একটা ডুবন্ত জাহাজ হয়ে উঠেছিল। কর্মীরা প্রতিষ্ঠান ছেড়ে চলে যাচ্ছিল। খুবই চ্যালেঞ্জিং সময় ছিল সেটা।
শেয়ার বিজ: অতি তরুণ বয়সে আপনি আইপিডিসি’র প্রধান নির্বাহীকর্মকর্তার দায়িত্ব নেন। এটি কীভাবে সম্ভব হলো?
মমিনুল ইসলাম: আইপিডিসিতে যোগদানের আগে আমি কাজ করেছি আমেরিকান এক্সপ্রেস ও স্ট্যান্ডার্ন্ড চার্টার্ড ব্যাংকের মতো প্রতিষ্ঠানে। বহুজাতিক প্রতিষ্ঠানে সব কিছুই ছিল সুশৃঙ্খল। নতুন কিছু করার প্রয়োজন সেখানে কমই ছিল। ক্যারিয়ার ছিল নিরাপদ। কিন্তু আইপিডিসি’র অভিজ্ঞতা সম্পূর্ণই আলাদা।
সে সময় নতুন প্রাতিষ্ঠানিক কাঠামো নির্মাণে ম্যানেজমেন্টে পরিবর্তন আনা হচ্ছিল। ডিসেম্বর মাসে সিএফও’র কাজের চাপ বেড়ে গেলে আমাকে বলা হলো তাকে সাহায্য করতে। এরপর সিএফও চাকরি ছেড়ে চলে গেলে ফাইন্যান্স দেখা শুরু করলাম। শুধু সিএফও’ই নন, প্রতিষ্ঠানটি একের পর এক কর্মকর্তা হারাতে শুরু করে। করপোরেট বিভাগ, রিটেইল ও ঝুঁকি ব্যবস্থাপনা বিভাগের প্রধান চাকরি ছেড়ে চলে গেলে সেসব বিভাগ দেখাশোনা শুরু করলাম। ২০০৭ সালের ডিসেম্বরে তৎকালীন ব্যবস্থাপনা পরিচালক চাকরি ছেড়ে গেলেন। এ অবস্থায় পরিচালনা পর্ষদ আমাকে ভারপ্রাপ্ত প্রধান নির্বাহী কর্মকর্তার (সিইও) দায়িত্ব দিলেন। আমার বয়স তখন মাত্র ৩১ বছর। অভিজ্ঞতা মাত্র সাত-আট বছরের। প্রতিষ্ঠানটি খুব একটা ভালো অবস্থায় নেই। ম্যানেজ করা খুবই কঠিন। তবে আমি এ অবস্থার সঙ্গে মানিয়ে নিতে চেষ্টা করি।
ভারপ্রাপ্ত সিইও হিসেবে আমি প্রথম ছয় মাস কাজ করি। প্রতিষ্ঠানটি কিছুটা স্থিতিশীল হলে নতুন সিইও যোগ দেন। তিন মাস পর তিনি চলে গেলে আমি আবারও ভারপ্রাপ্ত সিইও’র দায়িত্ব নিলাম। এবার পরিচালনা পর্ষদ আমাকে স্থায়ীভাবে সিইও’র দায়িত্ব দেওয়ার সিদ্ধান্ত নিলো। কিন্তু বাংলাদেশ ব্যাংকের নিয়ম অনুযায়ী ব্যাংক ও আর্থিক প্রতিষ্ঠানের সিইও হতে হলে কমপক্ষে ১২ বছরের অভিজ্ঞতা দরকার। আমার ছিল ৯ বছরের অভিজ্ঞতা। সুতরাং বাংলাদেশ ব্যাংক আমাদের আবেদন প্রত্যাখ্যান করে। ২০০৮ সালে আমাকে উপব্যবস্থাপনা পরিচালকের দায়িত্ব দেওয়া হয়। পরের বছর নতুন সিইও যোগ দিলেন। তিনি তিন বছর কাজ করার পর চলে যান। এরপর ২০১১ সালে আমি সাধারণ নিয়মেই প্রধান নির্বাহী কর্মকর্তার দায়িত্ব গ্রহণ করি।
শেয়ার বিজ: এ কয় বছরে প্রতিষ্ঠানটি কী কী সংস্কারের মধ্য দিয়েএগিয়েছে?
মমিনুল ইসলাম: কয়েক বছরে প্রতিষ্ঠানটিকে অনেক সাহসী পদক্ষেপ নিতে হয়েছে। ২০১১ সালে শ্রেণীকৃত ঋণ কমে ১৯ শতাংশে নেমে আসে। আগের চেয়ে কমলেও, তখনও এটা যথেষ্ট বেশি। আমানতের পরিমাণ বেড়ে তারল্য সংকট নিরসন হলো। প্রতিষ্ঠানকে সামনে এগিয়ে নিয়ে যাওয়ার উদ্দীপনা রয়েছেÑএমন তরুণ কর্মীদের নিয়োগ দিতে শুরু করলাম। ২০১৪ সালের মধ্যে আমাদের খেলাপি ঋণ ৩ শতাংশের নিচে নেমে এলো। যথাযথ আইটি সিস্টেম ও করপোরেট নীতি প্রতিষ্ঠা করা হলো। অভ্যন্তরীণ দুর্বলতা দূর হয়ে স্থিতিশীলতা ফিরে এলো।
কিন্তু তখনও আমাদের আশাব্যঞ্জক প্রবৃদ্ধি হচ্ছিল না। আইপিডিসি’র বেশিরভাগ শেয়ারের মালিক ছিল আগা খান ফান্ড ফর ইকোনমিক ডেভেলপমেন্ট। দেশের বাজার নিয়ে তাদের বিশেষ উদ্বেগ ছিল। আইপিডিসি’র অতীত ব্যবসায়িক অভিজ্ঞতা নেতিবাচক হওয়ায় সাহসী পদক্ষেপ নেওয়ার ক্ষেত্রে তাদের উপযুক্ত সমর্থন পাচ্ছিলাম না। সে সময় ব্র্যাক আমাদের সঙ্গে এলো। বাংলাদেশের বাজার সম্পর্কে ব্র্যাক বিশেষজ্ঞ। তারা জানে কীভাবে এগোতে হয়। ব্র্যাককে সঙ্গে নিয়ে আমরা পাঁচ বছরের কৌশলগত পরিকল্পনা প্রণয়ন করলাম। পরিচালনা পর্ষদও এ ব্যাপারে উৎসাহ দিলো।
অনেক চ্যালেঞ্জের ভেতর দিয়ে এসে আইপিডিসি আজ একটি স্পন্দনশীল প্রতিষ্ঠানে রূপ লাভ করেছে। এ পরিবর্তন আমার নেতৃত্বে ঘটেছে, এ ধরনের সুযোগ জীবনে পাওয়া কঠিন। বহুজাতিক প্রতিষ্ঠানে নিশ্চিন্ত ক্যারিয়ার তৈরি করতে পারতাম। কিন্তু সৃষ্টিশীলতার জায়গা থেকে এ আনন্দ পাওয়া সম্ভব ছিল না। আমি এমন কিছু করতে চেয়েছিলাম, যা আলাদা ও অর্থবহ। একই সঙ্গে আমি সহকর্মীদের প্রতি কৃতজ্ঞ, যারা শর্তহীনভাবে দিনরাত, কখনও কখনও সপ্তাহে সাত দিন কঠোর পরিশ্রম করেছেন। আমরা এ চ্যালেঞ্জকে উপভোগ করেছি। কারণ আমাদের সে প্যাশন ছিল, বাংলাদেশের বাজারে আমাদের আলাদা কিছু করতে হবে।
শেয়ার বিজ: বর্তমানে আর্থিক দিক থেকে আইপিডিসি কতটা শক্তিশালীঅবস্থানে রয়েছে?
মমিনুল ইসলাম: আমি মনে করি, বর্তমানে আইপিডিসি দ্রুত প্রবৃদ্ধিশীল আর্থিক প্রতিষ্ঠান, যাদের রয়েছে নির্ভরযোগ্য ব্যালান্স শিট। এখন আমাদের শ্রেণীকৃত ঋণ শূন্য দশমিক ৪ শতাংশ। আর্থিক বাজারে সর্বনিম্ন। এমনকি বহুজাতিক ব্যাংক এসসিবি’রও এ প্যারামিটার নেই। আর আমরা একটা ‘পারপাস’-এ কাজ করছি। মুনাফা বা প্রবৃদ্ধি অর্জন আমাদের মূল লক্ষ্য নয়। আমরা নিশ্চিত করতে চাই, আমরা সাধারণ মানুষের জীবনে একটি ইতিবাচক পরিবর্তন আনতে সক্ষম।
আমাদের প্রবৃদ্ধি যদি দেখেন, আমাদের এখন সেরা ইনডিকেটর রয়েছে। ২০১৫ সালের শেষে ৬০০ কোটি টাকার ঋণ পোর্টফোলিও ছিল। ২০১৬ সালের জুনে এটি প্রায় তিন হাজার কোটি টাকায় দাঁড়ায়। অর্থাৎ পাঁচ গুণ প্রবৃদ্ধি হয়েছে। এ বছরের শুরুতে আমাদের ঋণ পোর্টফোলিও দুই হাজার কোটি টাকা ছিল, ছয় মাসে তিন হাজার কোটিতে এসেছে। ২০ শতাংশ প্রবৃদ্ধি হয়েছে। আমরা এ প্রবৃদ্ধির ধারা বজায় রাখবো, কিন্তু ঝুঁকির বিনিময়ে নয়।
শেয়ার বিজ: প্রবৃদ্ধি যতটা দ্রুত, ততটা কি স্থিতিশীল?
মমিনুল ইসলাম: আর্থিক প্রতিষ্ঠানের স্থিতিশীলতার মূলে প্রধানত কাজ করে ঝুঁকি ব্যবস্থাপনা। তা না হলে দীর্ঘ মেয়াদে স্থিতিশীল হওয়া সম্ভব নয়। কোনো ব্যবসা তখনই স্থিতিশীল হয়, যখন সেটি সমাজের প্রয়োজন মেটায়। সমাজের প্রয়োজন মেটানোর সামর্থ্য থাকলে সব সময়ই ব্যবসার সুযোগ থাকে। তবে এখানে একটি ব্যবসায়িক ঝুঁকিও থাকে। অর্থাৎ কীভাবে ঝুঁকি ব্যবস্থাপনা করা হচ্ছে, সেটি খুবই গুরুত্বপূর্ণ।
ঝুঁকি ব্যবস্থাপনা, করপোরেট সুশাসন ও অভ্যন্তরীণ নিয়ন্ত্রণ ব্যবস্থার ক্ষেত্রে আইপিডিসি শক্ত ভিত্তির ওপর দাঁড়িয়ে আছে। গত এক-দুই বছরে ম্যানেজমেন্ট ইনফরমেশন সিস্টেমস, মানবসম্পদ ব্যবস্থাপনা ও প্রযুক্তিতে সামর্থ্য বাড়ানো হয়েছে অনেক। অর্থাৎ পরিকল্পনা বাস্তবায়নের ক্ষেত্রে আমরা ভুল পথে এগোচ্ছি না। আমাদের প্রতিটি বিভাগের দায়িত্বে আছেন দেশি ও বহুজাতিক সেরা প্রতিষ্ঠান থেকে আসা অভিজ্ঞ ও দক্ষ কর্মকর্তা। এরা জানেন কীভাবে পরিকল্পনাকে শ্রেষ্ঠ উপায়ে বাস্তবায়ন করতে হয়।
শেয়ার বিজ: ঝুঁকি ব্যবস্থাপনার ক্ষেত্রে গুরুত্বপূর্ণ বিষয়গুলো কী?
মমিনুল ইসলাম: ২০০৬ থেকে ২০১৪ পর্যন্ত, ব্যালান্স শিট স্বচ্ছ করতে আইপিডিসি যে কঠোর পরিশ্রম করেছে, তা থেকে একটি শিক্ষা আমরা পেয়েছি। শুধু নীতি প্রণয়ন করে ঝুঁকি এড়ানো যায় না। খেলাপি হতে পারে এমন ঋণকে এড়ানোর জন্য গুরুত্বপূর্ণ হচ্ছে একটা করপোরেট সংস্কৃতি তৈরি করা, কর্মীদের মধ্যে একটা সমন্বিত সংস্কৃতির বিকাশ ঘটানো। এর ফলে গ্রাহক নির্বাচনের ক্ষেত্রে কর্মীরাই আরও সচেতন হয়ে উঠবে।
শেয়ার বিজ: আর্থিক খাতের আইডিয়াল চিত্র কী হওয়া উচিত? বাংলাদেশে এর কতটা ঘাটতি রয়েছে?
মমিনুল ইসলাম: হ্যাঁ, একটি কথা এসেই যায়, বাণিজ্যিক ব্যাংকগুলো যেখানে রয়েছে, সেখানে আর্থিক প্রতিষ্ঠানের দরকার কী? কিন্তু আন্তর্জাতিক পরিমণ্ডলের দিকে তাকালে দেখবেন, অর্থনীতিতে অবদানের জন্য আর্থিক খাতের আলাদা জায়গা রয়েছে। প্রথমত, আর্থিক প্রতিষ্ঠান বিশেষ ধরনের পণ্য, শিল্প ও অবকাঠামোতে অর্থায়ন করে। ধরুন, জটিল কোনো রোগ হলে আপনি কোনো বিশেষজ্ঞ ডাক্তারের কাছে যাবেন ব্যাপারটা তেমন। দ্বিতীয়ত, এ ধরনের আর্থিক প্রতিষ্ঠানগুলো সৃষ্টিশীলতায় এগিয়ে থাকে। নতুন ধরনের পণ্য আনে। ৫ বা ১০ বছর ধরে অর্থায়নের পর আর্থিক প্রতিষ্ঠানের ব্যবসা ব্যাংকগুলো নিয়ে নেয়। তৃতীয়ত, উন্নত বিশ্বের ব্যাংকগুলো সাধারণত স্বল্প মেয়াদে অর্থায়ন করে থাকে। অন্যদিকে আর্থিক প্রতিষ্ঠান সাধারণত দীর্ঘমেয়াদি প্রকল্পে অর্থায়ন করে। দীর্ঘ মেয়াদে পাইকারি বাজারে জিরো কুপন বন্ড ইস্যু করার মাধ্যমে আর্থিক প্রতিষ্ঠানগুলো ফান্ড সংগ্রহ করে।
দুর্ভাগ্য হচ্ছে, বাংলাদেশে বন্ডবাজারের বিকাশ ঘটেনি। এ কারণে আর্থিক প্রতিষ্ঠানগুলো বাণিজ্যিক ব্যাংকগুলোর মতোই কাজ করছে। ওরা যেখানে ঋণ দিচ্ছে, আমরাও সেখানে ঋণ দিচ্ছি। সুতরাং প্রতিযোগিতা বেড়ে যাচ্ছে অনেক বেশি। কিন্তু উভয় ক্ষেত্রে একই কৌশল থাকা উচিত নয়। ব্যাংকের জন্য যা করা কষ্টসাধ্য, আর্থিক প্রতিষ্ঠান সেখানে তাদের বাজার ধরতে পারে।
আইপিডিসি, লংকাবাংলা, আইডিএলসি চেষ্টা করছে নিজেদের স্বতন্ত্র করে তুলতে। লংকাবাংলা শেয়ারবাজারে নিজেদের শক্তিশালী অবস্থান সৃষ্টি করেছে। আইডিএলসি এসএমই’তে নিজেদের শীর্ষ পর্যায়ে নিয়ে গেছে। এখন তারা নলেজ-বেইসড প্রোডাক্ট যেমন ইস্যু ম্যানেজমেন্ট, লোন সিন্ডিকেশন, ফান্ড অ্যারেঞ্জমেন্ট নিয়ে কাজ করছে। আর আইপিডিসি’র ফোকাস হচ্ছে গৃহঋণকে সাধারণ মানুষের নাগালের মধ্যে নিয়ে যাওয়া।
শেয়ার বিজ: গৃহঋণে আপনারা ফোকাস করছেন কেন?
মমিনুল ইসলাম: বাংলাদেশে অন্নের সংস্থান মোটামুটি সব মানুষের হয়েছে। বস্ত্রের চাহিদাও মিটেছে বলা যায়। দেশকে নিয়ে এখন মানুষ ইতিবাচক কথা বলে। দেশের সম্ভাবনাকে সমৃদ্ধিতে রূপ দিতে গেলে আমরা দেখবো সেখানে একটি আনমেট চাহিদা রয়েছে, সেটি হচ্ছে আমাদের বাসস্থানের নিশ্চয়তা।
বাংলাদেশে গৃহ নির্মাণের বিকাশ ঢাকা ও চট্টগ্রামকেন্দ্রিক। সম্প্রতি সীমিত পরিসরে শুরু হয়েছে সিলেট, কুমিল্লা, ময়মনসিংহ ও বগুড়ায়। অবকাঠামোগত উন্নয়ন বড় শহরকেন্দ্রিক হয়ে যাওয়া কোনো দেশের অর্থনীতির জন্য ভালো নয়। শহরতলিতে গেলে দেখতে পাবেন, অসংখ্য বাড়িঘর অর্ধনির্মিত হয়ে পড়ে আছে। তাদের পুরো বাড়ি নির্মাণের টাকা নেই। দেখা যায়, প্রতিবছর কিছু কিছু নির্মাণের মাধ্যমে অনেক বছর ধরে একটা বাড়ি বানায়। এটা খুবই অকার্যকর উপায়। আর কেউ কেউ সারা জীবন সঞ্চয় করে অবসরে যাওয়ার পর বাড়ি বানানোর চেষ্টা করে। দেখা যাচ্ছে, এখানে একটা আনমেট চাহিদা আছে। সুতরাং এখানে আমরা ফোকাস করেছি।
শেয়ার বিজ: কেমন সাড়া পাচ্ছেন?
মমিনুল ইসলাম: খুব ভালো সাড়া পাচ্ছি। আমাদের সঙ্গে রয়েছে ব্র্যাক। ব্র্যাকের কিছু অফিস থেকে সহযোগিতা করছে। এ বছরের অক্টোবর অথবা আগামী জানুয়ারি থেকে হয়তো ব্যাপক গণযোগাযোগের মাধ্যমে আমাদের প্রচার শুরু করবো। গৃহঋণ একটা জটিল প্রক্রিয়া। বাণিজ্যিক ব্যাংকের পক্ষে এ বিশেষ ধরনের সেবা দেওয়া এত সোজা নয়।
শেয়ার বিজ: আগামী পাঁচ বছরে আপনাদের ব্যবসায়িক পরিকল্পনা কী?
মমিনুল ইসলাম: আমাদের কৌশলগত পরিকল্পনার প্রথম কথাই হচ্ছে গৃহঋণকে সবার সামর্থ্যরে মধ্যে আনা। দ্বিতীয়ত, নারীর ক্ষমতায়নে আমরা কাজ করতে চাই। নারীরা কোনো আমানত রাখলে আমরা সুদের হার বাড়িয়ে দিচ্ছি। গৃহঋণ নেওয়ার সময় বাড়িটা স্ত্রীর নামে রেজিস্ট্রেশন করলে কম সুদে ঋণ দিচ্ছি। নারী কোনো অটো ঋণ নিলে তাদের ফ্রি ড্রাইভিং ট্রেনিং দেওয়া হচ্ছে। আমরা তরুণ ও নারী ফোকাসড ব্র্যান্ড হয়ে উঠতে চেষ্টা করছি। তৃতীয়ত, নতুন উদ্যোক্তা সৃষ্টি করা। আমরা বলছি, ২০২০ সালের মধ্যে দুই হাজার নতুন উদ্যোক্তাকে ঋণসহায়তা দেব। সে ক্ষেত্রে আমরা গুরুত্ব দেব মেয়েদের। চতুর্থত, মেট্রোপলিটন শহরের বাইরে প্রসার ঘটানো। পঞ্চমত, গৃহসজ্জায় অর্থায়ন।
শেয়ার বিজ: আইপিডিসি ২০১৭ সালে সিএসআর কার্যক্রমেরস্বীকৃতিস্বরূপ ‘অ্যাডফিয়াপ’ পুরস্কার জিতেছে। এ অর্জনকে কীভাবেদেখছেন?
মমিনুল ইসলাম: ব্যাংকগুলোর মতো আর্থিক প্রতিষ্ঠানও সিএসআর করে। পরিসরে ছোট বলে তা খুব একটা চোখে পড়ে না। কিন্তু আইপিডিসি একটা মানদণ্ড নিয়ে এগোতে চায়। আমরা নিশ্চিত করতে চাই যে, সমাজের জন্য আমরা কাজ করছি।
অ্যাসোসিয়েশন অব ডেভেলপমেন্ট ফাইন্যান্স অ্যান্ড ইনস্টিটিউশন অব এশিয়া প্যাসিফিক (অ্যাডফিয়াপ) ২৩টি দেশের শতাধিক আর্থিক প্রতিষ্ঠানের ডেভেলপমেন্ট ফাইন্যান্স নিয়ে কাজ করে। আইপিডিসিও সংস্থাটির সদস্য। অ্যাডফিয়াপে আমরা আমাদের প্রেজেন্টেশন পাঠাই। তারা আমাদের ইনিশিয়েটিভকে প্রশংসা করে। সিএসআর ক্যাটাগরিতে আমরা জয়ী হই।
শেয়ার বিজ: শেয়ারবাজারে আপনাদের অবস্থান কেমন?
মমিনুল ইসলাম: আগামী পাঁচ বছরের মধ্যে শেয়ারবাজার সম্পর্কিত কার্যক্রমে সরাসরি যুক্ত হওয়ার পরিকল্পনা নেই। লংকাবাংলা ও আইডিএলসি শেয়ারবাজারে খুবই সক্রিয়। কিন্তু আইপিডিসির লক্ষ্য আলাদা। আমরা এ মুহূর্তে শেয়ারবাজারে প্রবেশ করছি না। তবে ভেঞ্চার ক্যাপিটালে অংশগ্রহণ বাড়ানোর বিষয়টি আমরা গুরুত্ব দিয়ে ভাবছি। এটি শেষ পর্যন্ত শেয়ারবাজারে গিয়েই পৌঁছবে।
শেয়ার বিজ: দেশের সার্বিক আর্থিক খাত নিয়ে আপনার প্রত্যাশা কী?
মমিনুল ইসলাম: একসময় আমাদের অর্থনীতি খুব ছোট ছিল। আর্থিক খাতও ছোট ছিল। কিন্তু গত ১০ বছরে আমাদের অর্থনীতিতে নজিরবিহীন প্রবৃদ্ধি ঘটেছে। দেশি ও আন্তর্জাতিক অনেক প্রতিবন্ধকতা সত্ত্বেও আমরা ৬ শতাংশের বেশি প্রবৃদ্ধি অর্জন করেছি। আর্থিক খাতও সেসঙ্গে বাড়ছে। এর সঙ্গে সঙ্গে নতুন নতুন চ্যালেঞ্জও দেখা যাচ্ছে। এতগুলো ব্যাংক ও আর্থিক খাতে প্রযুক্তিগত মনিটরিং কঠিন কাজ। কিন্তু সত্য বলতে কি, আমাদের আর্থিক খাত ঢেলে সাজানোর প্রয়োজন রয়েছে। এমন সময়ে আমাদের জন্য খুবই গুরুত্বপূর্ণ হচ্ছে ‘ম্যানেজমেন্ট আন্ডারস্ট্যান্ডিং’। বিশেষ করে বড় সমস্যা সমাধানে ব্যবস্থাপনার দক্ষতা।
দ্বিতীয়ত, যে পরিমাণ প্রবৃদ্ধি আমাদের হচ্ছে সে পরিমাণ চাকরি সৃষ্টি হচ্ছে না। কর্মসংস্থান তৈরি করতে পারে এমন ব্যবসা ও কার্যক্রমের ব্যাপারে সর্বাধিক গুরুত্ব দিতে হবে। তৃতীয়ত, সব ক্ষেত্রেই আর্থিক খাতে শৃঙ্খলার ঘাটতি দেখছিÑএটা আসলে পুরো দেশের অবস্থারই প্রতিফলন। দুর্নীতি কমিয়ে, আইনের শাসন প্রতিষ্ঠা না করতে পারলে আমাদের অর্থনৈতিক প্রবৃদ্ধি হলেও জীবনযাত্রার গুণগত মান অর্জন হবে না। আমি আশা করি, সরকারি ও বেসরকারি সংস্থা একযোগে কাজ করলে এ চ্যালেঞ্জগুলো আমরা সফলভাবে অতিক্রম করতে পারবো।
কিন্তু আর্থিক খাতের একজন সদস্য হিসেবে আমি খুব সন্তুষ্ট নই। ব্যাংকগুলোর দুর্নীতি সম্পর্কে প্রায় সব পত্রিকায় পড়ছি। দীর্ঘ মেয়াদে বড় ধরনের অর্থনৈতিক ঝুঁকি থেকে বাঁচতে হলে, এখনই হাল ধরতে হবে। এখনই সময় ব্যাংক ও আর্থিক খাতকে আরও স্বচ্ছ করপোরেট গভর্ন্যান্সের মধ্যে নিয়ে আসা।
এ সময়ে দাঁড়িয়ে আইপিডিসি’র লক্ষ্য হচ্ছে একটি ভালো উদাহরণ তৈরি করা, যা নিয়ন্ত্রক সংস্থা অন্যদের মডেল হিসেবে দেখাতে পারে।
শেয়ার বিজ: সময় দেওয়ার জন্য আপনাকে ধন্যবাদ।
মমিনুল ইসলাম: আপনাকেও ধন্যবাদ।
উন্নয়নের অন্যতম চালিকাশক্তি হতে কাজ করছি: মমিনুল ইসলাম
পলাশ শরিফ : বাংলাদেশের পরিচয় এখন বহুমাত্রিক নানা অর্জন, স্বীকৃতি আর সম্মানে কমতি নেই। অর্থনৈতিক স্বাধীনতা সূচকেও এগিয়েছে অনেকটা। এশিয়ার বেশ কয়েকটি দেশকে টপকে গেছে ইতোমধ্যেই। সরকারের উন্নয়নশীল নীতি ও বিভিন্ন ছোট-বড় বেসরকারি প্রতিষ্ঠানের যৌথ সহযোগিতার ফলে এটি সম্ভব হয়েছে।
দেশের এ অগ্রযাত্রায় দীর্ঘদিনের সহযাত্রী আইপিডিসি ফাইন্যান্স লিমিটেড। ইন্ডাস্ট্রিয়াল প্রমোশন অ্যান্ড ডেভেলপমেন্ট কোম্পানির সংক্ষিপ্ত রূপ আইপিডিসি। বাংলাদেশের বেসরকারি খাতের অন্যতম পুরোনো এ আর্থিক প্রতিষ্ঠানের যাত্রা ১৯৮১ সালে। আগা খান ফান্ড ফর ইকোনমিক ডেভেলপমেন্ট (একেএফইডি), যুক্তরাষ্ট্রের ইন্টারন্যাশনাল ফাইন্যান্স করপোরেশন (আইএফসি), জার্মান ইনভেস্টমেন্ট অ্যান্ড ডেভেলপমেন্ট কোম্পানি (ডিইজি) ও যুক্তরাজ্যের কমনওয়েলথ ডেভেলপমেন্ট করপোরেশনের (সিডিসি) সহায়তায় তৎকালীন সরকার এ নন-ব্যাংকিং আর্থিক প্রতিষ্ঠান গড়ে তোলে। পরবর্তী সময়ে প্রায় ২৫ শতাংশ শেয়ার কিনে প্রতিষ্ঠানটির সঙ্গে যুক্ত হয় বিশ্বের অন্যতম বৃহৎ বেসরকারি উন্নয়ন সংস্থা ব্র্যাক। দীর্ঘ ৩৬ বছরে প্রতিষ্ঠানটি বাংলাদেশের অনেক উন্নয়নে সহযোগী হিসেবে কাজ করেছে। সূচনালগ্ন থেকে প্রতিষ্ঠানটি জরুরি প্রয়োজনে দেশের পাশে দাঁড়িয়েছে। মানুষের চাহিদা মেটাতে সময়ের প্রয়োজনে নিজেকে পরিবর্তনও করেছে প্রতিষ্ঠানটি। শিল্প, বাণিজ্য ও শিক্ষা খাতের উন্নয়নে অনুঘটক হিসেবে কাজ করছে আইপিডিসি।
সাম্প্রতিক বছরগুলোয় বাংলাদেশের অর্থনীতিতে যেসব সমস্যা দেখা গেছে, সেগুলো মোকাবিলার জন্য দীর্ঘমেয়াদি পরিকল্পনা নিয়েছে আইপিডিসি ফাইন্যান্স। এজন্য প্রতিষ্ঠানটি তাদের কার্যক্রম বিস্তৃত করেছে। তরুণ সমাজ, নারী ও সুবিধাবঞ্চিত এলাকাগুলোর প্রতি গুরুত্ব দিয়েছে তারা। পরিকল্পনা বাস্তবায়নের জন্য নতুন রোড ম্যাপ প্রস্তুত করেছে। এসব পরিকল্পনার মধ্যে রয়েছে ‘প্রতিটি পরিবারের জন্য একটি বাড়ি’, ‘নারীর ক্ষমতায়ন’, ‘উদ্যোক্তা তৈরি’, ‘যান্ত্রিক মেগাসিটি পেরিয়ে’ ও ‘স্বাচ্ছন্দ্য আনুন নিজ ঘরে’। বর্তমানে প্রাতিষ্ঠানিক, ক্ষুদ্র ব্যবসা ও ব্যক্তিÑএ তিন পর্যায়ে অর্থায়ন করছে আইপিডিসি। এর মধ্যে প্রাতিষ্ঠানিক পর্যায়ে পাঁচটি ও ক্ষুদ্র উদ্যোক্তাদের জন্য ছয়টি সেবা দিচ্ছে প্রতিষ্ঠানটি। আর ব্যক্তি পর্যায়ের গ্রাহকদের বাড়ি-গাড়ি ক্রয়সহ নানা প্রয়োজনে চার ধরনের ঋণ সেবা দিচ্ছে। আরও কিছু সেবা আনার পরিকল্পনা আছে তাদের। এসব কার্যক্রমের মধ্য দিয়ে দেশে শীর্ষস্থানীয় নন-ব্যাংকিং আর্থিক প্রতিষ্ঠানের তালিকায় স্থান করে নিতে চায় আইপিডিসি।
গ্রাহককে উন্নত সেবা দিতে সারা দেশে ৯টি শাখা স্থাপন করেছে আইপিডিসি। শাখাগুলোয় বর্তমানে প্রায় আড়াই শতাধিক কর্মকর্তা-কর্মচারী প্রায় আড়াই হাজার গ্রাহকের সঙ্গে কাজ করছেন।
দেশের শিল্প খাতে ভূমিকা রাখছে আইপিডিসি এবং নানা প্রকল্পে অংশীদার হিসেবেও কাজ করছে। এর মধ্যে উল্লেখযোগ্য আইডিএলসি ফাইন্যান্স লিমিটেড, ফ্যান্টাসি কিংডম, হোলসিম, সামিট, ডিবিএইচ, এ্যাপোলো
হসপিটালস-ঢাকা, ওয়েস্টিন হোটেলস অ্যান্ড রিসোর্টস, ন্যাশনাল হাউজিং, একুশে টিভি ও ইংরেজি মাধ্যম স্কুল স্কলাসটিকা।
দেশের অন্যতম বিশ্বস্ত আর্থিক প্রতিষ্ঠানে পরিণত হওয়ার লক্ষ্যে গত বছর আইপিডিসি ফাইন্যান্স লিমিটেড ‘জাগো উচ্ছ্বাসে’ নামে একটি নতুন থিম উšে§াচন করেছে। এ থিম প্রতিষ্ঠানটির নতুন যাত্রার কথা বলে। প্রতিষ্ঠানটি নন-ব্যাংকিং আর্থিক প্রতিষ্ঠানসহ ব্যাংকিং সেবা সম্পর্কেও গ্রাহকদের প্রয়োজনীয় তথ্য ও দিকনির্দেশনা দিয়ে আসছে। মূলত গ্রাহকের জীবন থেকে প্রাত্যহিক নানা ঝুটঝামেলা কমানোর জন্য তারা চেষ্টা চালিয়ে যাচ্ছে।
করপোরেট সামাজিক দায়বদ্ধতা থেকে নানা কাজ করে থাকে আইপিডিসি। শীতে উত্তরবঙ্গের নানা স্থানে শীতবস্ত্র ও নেবুলাইজার বিতরণ করেছে প্রতিষ্ঠানটি। সুবিধাবঞ্চিত শিশুদের জন্য নানা কর্মকাণ্ড পরিচালনা করে থাকে তারা।
দেশের শিল্প-বাণিজ্যের উন্নয়নে অন্যতম প্রধান চালিকাশক্তি হিসেবে ধারাবাহিকভাবে কার্যক্রম পরিচালনা করে যাচ্ছে আইপিডিসি ফাইন্যান্স লিমিটেড। এ ধারা অব্যাহত থাকবে। আমরা বিশ্বাস করি, এর মাধ্যমে আইপিডিসি ভবিষ্যতে বাংলাদেশকে একটি মধ্যম আয়ের দেশে পরিণত করার লক্ষ্য পূরণে ভূমিকা রাখবে। বাংলাদেশ সরকারের প্রতিশ্রুতির সঙ্গে আমাদের লক্ষ্য ও উদ্দেশ্যের মিল রয়েছে। আমরা বাংলাদেশের উজ্জ্বল ভবিষ্যতের অগ্রযাত্রায় অবিচ্ছেদ্য অংশ হতে চাই।
ব্যবস্থাপনা পরিচালক ও মুখ্য নির্বাহী কর্মকর্তা
আইপিডিসি ফাইন্যান্স লিমিটেড
An Interview With Mr. Mominul Islam.
Mr. Mominul Islam is the Managing Director & CEO of IPDC. Prior to that, he was the Deputy Managing Director of the Company from July 2008 to December 2011. He had joined IPDC in 2006 as Head of Operations. During his tenure at IPDC, he has played pivotal role in reshaping the organization through strategic planning, organizational restructuring and automation, process re-engineering, control and compliance, and service quality, and so on. Prior to joining IPDC, Mr. Islam has worked in American Express Bank (AEB) and Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) for more than 7(seven) years with an enriching career in different areas of the Banks, such as General Banking, Re-engineering, Service Quality, Risk Management, Project Management, Business Contingency Planning, etc. During his tenure at AEB he went through the Six Sigma Black Belt training at Brighton, UK, and
managed several Six Sigma projects for AEB Bangladesh, Singapore, UK, Hong Kong, India, and USA.
In the last two years, Industrial Promotion and Development Company (IPDC)-a non-banking financial institution (NBFI)- of Bangladesh has literally been going through a ‘Purple Patch.’
Their re-branded logo is more of ‘Pink’ color than ‘Purple’ though. Mominul Islam, the Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of IPDC meanwhile termed the color ‘Magenta’. ‘
Purple’, ‘Magenta’ or ‘Pink’-the color barely matters. Under the dynamic leadership of Mominul Islam-the youngest CEO of any major financial institutions of the country, IPDC has been able to create a ubiquitous presence that it lacked for a long time despite being the oldest private financial body in the country.
Fintech recently interviewed this brilliant young CEO and talked about IPDC’s revival as well as about the way of bringing dynamism in the country’s business sector.
FINTECH: Can you tell us about your journey in becoming one of the youngest CEOs in the financial sector of the country?
MI: After completing my BBA from Institute of Business Administration (IBA) in Dhaka University (DU), I joined the American Express Bank back in 1999 in its Chittagong branch. I worked in the branch banking for nine months. Within one year, I was adopted for a very challenging job of the head of projects and re-engineering. After successfully doing that job for some time, I was sent to London for Six Sigma Black Belt Training. It’s the advanced projects management training. I completed that training in 2001. After that I 
returned to Bangladesh and I was picked up for global transformation project management in Singapore, Hong King, UK and Chennai and for US.
I used the knowledge that I received in the Six Sigma training for process improvement and business transformation. So when I was working for advanced deposit structure products in Singapore, Hong-Kong and UK after completion for the project, I was nominated for the premier performer award. I believe that Six Sigma Black Belt training aids me a lot to be in the position where I am now.
In 2005, the American Express Bank planned to close down its operation and Standard Chartered Bank purchased its operation in Bangladesh. I was offered to stay with the American Express to work with the global transformation team but I opted for moving to Standard Chartered Bank rather than working with the global transformation team there.
I was also offered a post in Dubai but I declined as I didn’t want to travel that much at that time. I used to travel a lot during my career in American Express and I was tired of it. Besides, because of some family issue, I really didn’t want to move out from the country then.
After a short stint at Standard Chartered, in 2006, I got an offer from the IPDC. It was not an easy decision to take back then as from one of the best multinational banks in the world, I was offered to move to a small NBFI. But I love challenge and I saw potential of IPDC. Besides, my former boss at American Express Bank- Mr Shah Alam Sarwar (now the Managing Director of IFIC Bank) was heading IPDC at that time. So I decided to join there.
FINTECH: What was the situation in the IPDC back then?
MI: To be very frank, the situation of IPDC was bad then. IPDC was established back in 1981 and it was one of the oldest private financial institutions of the country. But when I joined there in 2006, it actually was in a pretty bad shape. It was in a vulnerable position as there was a huge pile of non-performing loans (NPL) which dragged the organization on the verge of collapse. The amount of non-performing loan was almost 43%. The organization was heavily depending on bank borrowing and long-term lending in the market. There was a huge liquidity crunch in the market at that moment and fund management on daily basis itself became a headache. Besides, there was no proper system in the company at that time. So basically it was an investment bank without proper governance, risk management framework and technological backbone.
So my first job as the head of operations was to have a proper organogram and organizational structure in place. I tried to have an understanding of the process and I tried to automate the system. It took around a year for me to re-structure the whole organization. I spent countless sleepless nights. I was working for straight seven days and there was no weekend for me.
In the meantime, several new people came into the organization but most of them didn’t stay there for long. In early 2008, when I was just 31 years, I was made the acting CEO of the company after our CEO left the organization. At that age, it was the biggest challenge that I ever took in my life. The pressure was immense.
I was having over 100 hours of work per week in the office. I was however taking that as challenge. I tried to have more fresh blood in the organization because I believed that fresh recruits out of university are driven by passion. They also have a dedication to prove themselves. I was in charge as the acting CEO for six months. Then another new CEO joined in. Within three months he also moved out. The board then thought of making me the CEO. The organization was very thin on senior management at that time. So my appointment as CEO was approved by the board and it was sent to Bangladesh Bank for its approval. Bangladesh Bank however said that I didn’t have the required experience to become a CEO. For becoming a CEO, I needed to have at least 12 years of experience which I didn’t have at that time. I only had 10 years.
The board understood the regulatory constraints. So they appointed a new CEO-Humaira Azam (now the DMD of Bank Asia). She was there for three years. By the end of 2011, she joined a commercial bank. By that time, I had gained my twelve year experiences. By the age of 35 years, I became the CEO of the IPDC in January 04, 2012. Now this is my sixth my years as the CEO.
FINTECH: IPDC is one of the oldest private sector financial institutions of the country. Why do you think it had gone into such a bad shape when you joined there?
MI: IPDC is first private sector financial institution in the country among banks and NBFIs. This company has a very strong heritage. The institutions which worked behind the formation of IPDC were World Bank Groups, IFC, German Development Organization, Commonwealth Development Organization, the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development (AKFED) and also the government of Bangladesh. At that time all the banks of Bangladesh were nationalized and there were only few foreign banks and nothing else. The only financial institution that was catering to the financial need of the local organization was Bangladesh Shilpa Hrin Sangstha. But there were lots of bureaucratic issues. For project appraisal, they used to take two years.
So there was a great need for a local private sector financial institution. Thus the journey of IPDC had begun in 1981 to cater the need of local emerging businesses. IPDC is behind the success of a number of large conglomerates and different ventures in Bangladesh at their incubation stage. We were behind Transcom, Pran, Square groups. The first private sector five star hotel –Westin-wasfinanced by the IPDC. Apollo hospital was financed by IPDC. Citycell, the first private sector telecom company, GMG, the first private sector airlines, Fantasy Kingdom, the first theme park. Holcim-the first preference share investment, Summit-the first independent power producer, DBH-the first housing finance company, Ekushe TV- the first private sector TV channel and Scholastica-the first institutional investment in private sector education- all were financed by IPDC.
IPDC was always at the forefront of new ventures and innovation. It also help created new products. It aided to establish first institutional venture capital in Bangladesh. We are the sponsor shareholder of three NBFIs-IDLC. IDLC was formed within IPDC with the help of IFC. IPDC and IFC was the sponsor shareholder. Then we introduce leasing in Bangladesh. We were the sponsor shareholder of the NBFI-National Housing which wanted to introduce housing finance in Bangladesh. We introduce the first preference share in Bangladesh through Holcim.
So there is no doubt that IPDC has established a strong legacy throughout the years. The problem is, while the innovation was there, there were lack of corporate governance and technological adaptability. These are very important for financial institutions. IPDC lacked those. Because of that, IPDC was falling behind of others.
You have to realize that in financial institutions, we are ultimately dealing with risk and our products are also risk. So without corporate governance and technological adaptation, you cannot manage risk properly. Besides, the business scenario can change with technological innovations. The taxicab sector was a very promising sector in Bangladesh and IPDC invested heavily there. Unfortunately, the taxicab sector never picked up. There were other bad investments as well. For a financial institution, it’s normal to have bad investment, but it’s important to learn from the failure and to re-design the investment portfolio with the learning from the failure. I believed, for a certain period in the IPDC, there was a lacking in doing so and because of that, the organization was on the verge of collapse.
FINTECH: What was the motivation behind IPDC’s re-branding? Why the tagline ‘Jaago Ucchashe’ has been used in the branding?
MI: In 2004, there is a change in the shareholding position. IFC sold their share to AKFED and AKFED becomes the majority shareholder in the company. The government has also retained its position and then we went for public listing in 2006 but still AKFED holds the controlling share in the company. Because of some past experience, they were very edgy about taking new shareholders in the company. Due to their conservative attitude, our competitors went ahead of us and become bigger. IDLC-of which we were the sponsor shareholder, became the market leader in the NBFI sector of the country. They expanded in many horizons. But IPDC remains stagnated.
So at that time, we were thinking deeply that what can be done to bring this company back to its iconic status. At that moment Brac came in and showed its interest. It was very beneficial for IPDC because AKFED didn’t have that much expertise or experiences Bangladesh, which Brac has. AKFED sold a part of its share to Brac and now it becomes the largest shareholder now. Brac now owns 25% of the share, Ayesha Abed Foundation owns 10%, AKFED owns 11%, the government owns 22%, RSA Capital run by Mahmood Sattar and Sameer Ahmed owns 5%, the institution owns 11.29%, foreign shareholders own 2.93% and the general public own 12.84%.
After Brac bought shares and joined IPDC, things got boosted. We were thinking of a massive and complete facelift of the company’s image. We sit, discussed and analyzed thoroughly about the need of the local market to identify our scopes and challenges. I personally believe in the mantra that where there are challenges, there are opportunities. The incorporation of Brac made us to look the potential market with scope for conducting socio-economic business.
But first, we felt that we would need to build a solid brand. Because when we enter into a large scale network of retial or SME sector, people have to be familiar with our brand to trust us with their money. So we re-launched the brand.
Bangladesh has come a long way since its independence. It now has become a land of opportunity and prosperity. So when we thought of re-launching our brand, we wanted to do that in such a manner that it would reflect this transformation of Bangladesh. So,we came up with the re-branding tagline-‘Jaago Ucchashe’.
It reflects that we want to harness the huge potential of the young entrepreneurs and we are asking them to come forward.
FINTECH: What are the main business focuses of the re-launched IPDC? Which sectors it is working on primarily?
MI: The true business is something by which you solve a problem in the society that no one else wants to solve. At the same time, you have to make sure that the solutions that you provide come in economically viable way.
So, when we re-launched our brand, we had set up goals for the next five years. In our goals, we wanted to build our capacity and expand the distributor network. We wanted to expand our territory to places where other financial organizations hesitate to go because we want to bring more inclusivity.
We found that there was a huge gap in the demand and supply in the housing market. In Bangladesh, the mortgage to GDP ratio-which is the leading indicator to understand the housing market scenario of a country, is only around 3%. To give a give context about how low that number is- I am giving you another number that in the developed countries, this ration is usually 80%. Malaysia has 45%, Thailand has 26%. Even our neighboring India has 10%. So there is a huge gap in this sector in Bangladesh.
The development in the real estate sector is only concentrated in Dhaka and Chittagong. Because of this, the property prices in these two cities have gone so high that a typical middle income family cannot afford an apartment, let alone a land here. So what happens, most of the middle income people buy a property at the end of their career with money from pension and provident fund and they can barely enjoy the home ownership at that age. Secondly, this also prompts corruption as a huge amount of undisclosed money is being spent in the real estate sector. This flow of black money into the real estate sector again increases the property price.
The practice in the real estate sector is also very unhealthy. The prevailing practice here is that people build the building in which they are going to live in a very inefficient manner. This is because of the cash constraint they have in constructing the building in one phase. Because of the time value of money, this type of constructions is actually proven to be a loss. Home is a very basic need. In Bangladesh, we have been able to uplift ourselves in such a position where we can say that our basic needs including food, clothing and education are met. But we still have a lot to do in the housing sector as well as in the healthcare sector.
You also have to understand that housing has a tremendous positive impact on GDP because housing has the highest multiplier GDP impact. There are around 234 industries that have direct linkages with the housing sector. So an investment of Tk 1 in the real estate sector basically has a multiplying effect of Tk 234 in the GDP. So IPDC wanted to work on this sector which is still not being addressed properly. It wanted to come out with idea to cater the need of people outside of the highly concentrated market in Dhaka and Chittagong.
So we have started providing affordable house loans. Our Home loan can be availed for up to 25 years and any amount supported by income. Generally, IPDC offers home loan 85% of the property value. The actual term and amount depends on the property value and customer profile. These Home Loans come with a very attractive built-in insurance policy to safeguard your most precious asset(s). We ensure the most robust coverage which protects your property from risks, such as death, critical illness, permanent disability, or perils (fire, cyclone, earthquake, etc.); relieving you and your family from the burden of the loan in the event of any such unforeseen circumstances, ensuring your dream home to be there for your family, forever.
We have also found ways to provide home loan in innovative manner. As expanding branch network is very expensive, for distributing home loan, we thought of finding new ways to reach to the customers. We have made contracts with BSRM and M.I Cement. There is no real estate company at the rural parts of Bangladesh and people build the houses by themselves by hiring engineers and architects. So they have direct exposures to the cement and steal dealers. When they go to the dealers of BSRM or M.I Cement, their agents informed the customers about the IPDC home loan. So basically we have expanded our network through collaboration with companies with mutual interest.
Besides, home loan we wanted to work for women empowerment. We saw that only 14% women is currently being employed in the formal sector. We also found that only 3.14% SME loans were given to women. So there was a huge gap there as well. So we wanted to reach out to give more loans with affordable interest to women. We believed that if women are empowered and they are given the chance to become a breadwinner, then it will do well for the family as well as for the society.
We also wanted to harness the huge potential of our youth and for that we have launched our youth entrepreneurship program. Every year, around 2.2 million young people enter into the labor force. However Bangladesh can only cater around 7,000,00-8,000,00 in the job market. So we wanted to build new entrepreneurs so that they wouldn’t only look for jobs rather start a business of their own.
IPDC has been using Brac’s large network. Brac is actively aiding to us to run our entrepreneur development program. Under the program 10 outlets are open in four cities where young entrepreneurs come to get training about new entrepreneurships. After they complete their training, they are offered financing from IPDC to start their businesses. We are also reaching out to different universities to motivate the young business graduates for entrepreneurship.
FINTECH: Who are in the boards of IPDC? Are they giving you enough freedom to run the organization? Also how your manpower is shaping up to take the challenge of a re-branded organization?
MI: We wanted to leapfrog, so we brought in people with dynamic experiences and leadership quality in our board. Dr Muhammad Musa is the current Chairman of the board now. He has an extensive background in leading humanitarian, social development, and public health organizations at international, cross-cultural settings. Dr Musa has worked for 32 years with CARE International as one of its senior international management professionals. He has long experience in strategic leadership, governing board management and executive-level management of large-scale operations.
Then we brought Mr Sameer Ahmad as a nominated director, who is a versatile investment banker with 20 years of experience encompassing the geographic areas of Europe, Middle East, Emerging Africa, and South East Asia. Mr. Ahmad has established himself as one of the leading investment bankers in Bangladesh. His presence at the board gives us the idea of venturing into new investment avenues. We also have Ms Nasreen Sattar as Independent Director, who is the first Bangladeshi women to become a CEO of a foreign bank on foreign soil. Her last assignment was as CEO for Standard Chartered Bank, Afghanistan where she successfully led the Bank over challenging and difficult times.
We have Amin H Manekia as the Vice Chairman. Mr. Manekia has a vast and diversified expertise in the field of marketing, finance, healthcare and banking. He has pioneered the concept of automatic beverage dispensing machines in India. We also have leading banking and finance industry figures like Mr Mamdudur Rashid, Additional Managing Director of Brac Bank and Salahdin Arshad Imam, a renowned independent financial consultant. Mr Asif Saleh, a senior director from Brac and Mr Shameran Abed from Ayesha Abed Foundation are in the board as nominated director.
From the government, we have Mr Sadaruddin Ahmed, an Additional Secretary with the Finance Division of the Ministry of Finance and Md Enamul Haque, an Additional Secretary with the Ministry of Industries.
So our board is comprised of these unique and talented individual helped IPDC to shape up in modern manner.
We have also tried to bring in best business graduates of the country as well the seasoned professionals working in the best institutions in the market. We have brought people from Nestle, Grameenphone, Samsung Electronics who have better understanding of the consumer behavior and also about the actual ability of the important market players. We also brought in people from multinational bank in the credit section of our institutions to conduct risk management in proper manner. For managing home loans, we brought people from DBH. So from just 100 people at the end of 2015, the organization now has over 300 people.
FINTECH: With adaptation of new technologies, many companies are actually letting a part of their workforce go. Under the circumstances, you have been hiring more manpower to run your company. Does that mean, IPDC is not adopting or embracing new technology?
MI: No, Not at all. You have to understand that, we were on the process of bringing a patient from the ICU to a general ward. IPDC was struggling for long to make an impact in the financial arena of Bangladesh. So we first wanted to give it a strong footing.
When I took the charge of the company in 2012, we had a loan portfolio of Tk 312 crore. Now we have over Tk 1,900 crore. Obviously, it’s not an exponential growth but it’s a steady and healthy growth. We also have a deposit portfolio of Tk 1,700 crore which was Tk 370 crore when I took charge.
From five small branches, we now have 14 branches.
By 2020, we want to have to have Tk 11,000 crore in our balance sheet. So that is the basically the amount that a mid-size bank has. For a commercial bank to bring that kind of radical transformation is very difficult. They are crippled by the legacy issues. It is very difficult for them to bring massive changes.
IPDC is a very compliant organization but at the same time, we are very agile. If you lo at our people, you will see that they are very young. Most of them are in their late twenties or thirty’s. This young workforce is by default tech-savvy. They want to do everything on-line and they want to do it with latest gadgets and technologies. So IPDC is bringing in more people to expand the network but at the same time, it is investing in technology to make the system more efficient and transparent.
We are also mulling ways to bring in more technology driven products in the market.
We know that the need for NBFI’s in the economy is twofold. The first is their specialization on particular sector which they can perform in quicker and more efficient ways than the commercial banks. That’s why there are housing finance companies or merchant banks. The other one is their innovative ways bringing new products. IPDC is running by these two mantras of NBFI and I believe we are succeeding in doing that.
The Growing Portfolio
Mominul Islam is the Managing Director & CEO of IPDC Finance Limited. Prior to that, he was the Deputy Managing Director of the Company from 2008 to 2011. He had joined IPDC in 2006 as Head of Operations. During his tenure at IPDC, he has played pivotal role in reshaping the organization through strategic planning, organizational restructuring and automation, process re-engineering, control and compliance, and service quality, and so on.
You’ve spent a portion of your career in commercial banks. What changes did you have to deal with when you moved from a Bank to an NBFI?
In spite of certain similarities, the Nonbank Financial Institutes (NBFIs) fundamentally differ from commercial banks in several aspects. The NBFIs in Bangladesh are largely comprised of development financial institutions, leasing enterprises, investment companies, merchant banks, etc. The financing methods of the NBFIs are long term in nature. The inefficiency of banks in the case of long-term loan management has already led to an enormous volume of outstanding loans in our country. At this instance, in order to ensure the flow of term loans and to meet the credit gap, NBFIs have enormous importance in the economy of our country. From my experience in the context of Bangladesh, I have noticed that commercial banking is yet to reach certain corners in our country to help people with their banking needs. Being the first NBFI of Bangladesh, IPDC Finance Limited had the opportunity to reach consumers in remote parts of the country with its financial solutions. NBFIs offer a wide range of loan products at highly competitive rates. We simplify the whole process of taking a loan, making it easier for customers to approach us rather than approaching a bank. It is also difficult for the commercial banks to conduct its operations in an innovative business model and expertise on maintaining the relationship with its customers. Over the years IPDC has developed a variety of specialized tools for assisting and counseling our customers. We are highly approachable and also offer personal attention to every customer regarding their financial needs.
What style of leadership do you incorporate in your work throughout IPDC Finance Limited?
I have obtained the Six Sigma Black Belt training and worked on several Six Sigma projects. From my time there, I realized that organizations need to determine an appropriate sigma level for each of their most important processes and strive to achieve them. As a result of this goal, it is obligatory for the management of the organization to prioritize areas of improvement. The term “Six Sigma” comes from statistics and is used in statistical quality control, which evaluates process capability. As the MD and CEO of IPDC Finance Limited, I have always tried to incorporate Six Sigma levels in my style of work. This approach helped us reach some extraordinary feats in our organizational development in the recent times. IPDC has emerged as the fastest growing financial institution of the country in 2016. In the last one year, the company’s asset and deposit portfolios have both grown by more than threefold. The loan portfolio grew from Tk 6,415 million in 2015 to Tk 19,480 million in 2016 and the deposit portfolio grew from Tk 4,745 million to Tk 17,179 million in 2016. The company’s bottom line has witnessed a positive growth of 26% during the year 2016 which has nearly tripled in the last 5 years. Our collective dauntless and decisive effort towards our work has brought about such exceptional growth in the country. The impact of our effort will spur velvet in the years to come.
“NBFIs offer a wide range of loan products at highly competitive rates. We simplify the whole process of taking a loan, making it easier for customers to approach us rather than approaching a bank.”
What are the challenges of operating in the financial industry in our country?
NBFIs represent one of the most important parts of a financial system but not without a few challenges of operating in the financial industry in our country. Asset-liability mismatches, investment in high-risk portfolios, competition from the likes of other NBFIs and banks are some of the challenges. The asset-liability mismatch is a major cause for concern for NBFIs. The demand for funds to meet the growing lending requirements has increased. NBFIs now have to explore alternative ways of raising funds. Also, the cost of funds for NBFIs are higher than that of banks. Moreover, fierce competition among competitors may also force many NBFIs to reduce the margin of profitability in the business. Unless sufficient risk management competencies are established, the development forecasts of NBFIs would not only be stalled but it might also be misinterpreted.
What is the competitive scenario you’re facing in this industry? How are you steering IPDC through this?
With the launch of new NBFIs, the market share is spread over the competitors. Active participation of regular banks has further elevated the level of competition in the financial industry. Leasing was well-thought-out as a non-bank financing activity until recently as a lot of banks have shown interest in the leasing business and have started to penetrate the market.
IPDC Finance Limited has filled the void by supplying financial services to its customers which are not generally provided by the banking sector. In a background of changes in the financial industry, it is important to sustain our resolution and what we stand for. As the most passionate financial brand in the country we have always focused on diversified financial services for the youth, women and underserved areas of our country. Our company is planning to work on youth unemployment which is one of the major challenges at the moment in Bangladesh. By steering our focus on private sectors it will eventually create more sustainable prospects in the society. All these activities will help IPDC stay ahead of its competitors. In 2017 we have plans to open nine more branch offices across the country to bring 70% of the total population under our financial services. Apart from our own offices, we have started giving out home loan solutions from ten BRAC offices. To accelerate exponential growth and competitiveness, we are taking onboard key stakeholders and business entities to help provide added facilities to our wide range of clientele. Diversifying the product range is a strategic challenge for IPDC Finance Limited in order to become competitive in the rapidly growing market.
What is IPDC doing in terms of financial innovations for the people of our country?
Keeping in mind the socio-economic challenges and opportunities of Bangladesh in the next ten years, IPDC Finance Limited has revamped its operations and introduced the most innovative financial services for the people of this country. Affordable housing for all families, women empowerment, and employment creation has been the key strategic pillars for the company alongside the existing industrial finance. Innovative ideas have been put into places by forming partnerships with top steel and cement makers along with the leading NGOs in the country to provide affordable home loans to the lower middle-income families in the small cities and suburban areas where home loans were completely absent. IPDC’s team designed and initiated some of the most innovative financial product line-ups in the industry which features women empowerment as the true essence of financial freedom for any lady. Hence, apart from lucrative augmented features like free driving sessions and so, much-privileged loan and deposit interest rates are accommodated especially for women. Factoring finance for the SMEs has been introduced especially in the agricultural and agro-processing sector. There are also plans for new entrepreneurship development programs for the returned immigrant workers in collaboration with BRAC.
How are innovations such as Fintech changing the financial landscape in our economy?
Financial technology or Fintech in the financial industry is composed of techniques that practice new technology and innovations with obtainable resources in order to offer differentiated products and services in the financial marketplace. Financial technologically sound companies consist of both startups and established financial and technology companies trying to replace or enhance the usage of financial services of incumbent companies. According to reports, Bangladesh presently consists of about 800 IT and ITeS (Information Technology Enabled Service) companies with an estimated turnover of around $200 million. Amongst this, Mobile Finance Services (MFS) like bKash, SureCash and others remain the most successful ones. Reports suggest that about 32.2 million registered mobile banking accounts are at large, as of June 2016. Proper education, awareness, and trust in technology can induce more consumers to use Fintech solutions. With the help of solutions like these, cash transactions will be reduced in another five years and mobile money will grow as more and more people will start paying money for private and government services through MFS.
What was the best leadership advice you ever received?
My mentor and coworker, Rayhan Ul Ameen, COO, American Express in 2002 once told me “Do not wait for others to appreciate and acknowledge your good work. It is your sense of self accomplishment which should drive you to perform even better for your next generation.” His words till date, remains the best leadership advice for me.
Financial Fair Play
Mominul Islam is the Managing Director & CEO of IPDC Finance Limited. Prior to that, he was the Deputy Managing Director of the Company from 2008 to 2011. He had joined IPDC in 2006 as Head of Operations. During his tenure at IPDC, he has played pivotal role in reshaping the organization through strategic planning, organizational restructuring and automation, process re-engineering, control and compliance, and service quality, and so on.
You have obtained the Six Sigma Black Belt training and worked on several Six Sigma projects. What have you learned from your time there? How have you incorporated it into your working methodology?
During my time in the Six Sigma training, I realized that organizations need to determine an appropriate sigma level for each of their most important processes and strive to achieve them. As a result of this goal, it is obligatory on the management of the organization to prioritize areas of improvement. The term “Six Sigma” comes from statistics and is used in statistical quality control, which evaluates process capability. Originally, it referred to the ability of manufacturing processes to produce a very high proportion of output within its specifications. It uses a set of quality management methods, mainly empirical, statistical methods, and creates a special infrastructure of people within the organization who are experts in these methods. Each Six Sigma project carried out within an organization follows a defined sequence of steps and has specific value targets, for example: reduce process cycle time, reduce pollution, reduce costs, increase customer satisfaction, and increase profits.
IPDC is the first private company in the nation to provide financial services and products for various sectors. Could you elaborate upon the company’s journey? Why are these services essential in the progress of the nation?
IPDC Finance Limited is the first financial institution of Bangladesh, which was established in 1981. Since then, the company has played a pivotal role in financing several major industrial projects in Bangladesh. It has continuously been the major driving force behind the industrial development of Bangladesh in the private sector. The economy of our country has undergone numerous changes in recent times. In its effort to revamp its operation in Bangladesh and in alignment with its key vision to be an active partner in the development of our economy, IPDC has changed its name from ‘Industrial Promotion and Development Company of Bangladesh Limited’ to IPDC Finance Limited. It has made some major changes to ensure efficient organizational management and maximum risk management in its operations. Modern day investors can now build their business upon a more solid foundation. With a broad plan and futuristic approach towards these challenges, IPDC Finance Limited has plans to become one of the key aggregators in the financial industry of this country. Due to the rapid socio-economic development, there is an increased demand for housing solutions amongst the people in our country. Yet there is little to no investment in this sector outside of Dhaka and Chittagong. Most of the people from our country can only afford to build a house during the final stages of their lives. Now IPDC Finance Limited has emphasized on home loans to help ensure affordable housing solutions for the middle and low-income families of the country. We have brought some specialties in our loan schemes. If our lessee departs, becomes permanently handicapped or becomes terminally ill, the person will not have to bear the responsibility to repay the debt. Special insurance will cover the debt expenses. The insurance premium will be covered by IPDC. IPDC Finance Limited will cover these expenses under its corporate social responsibility. Our primary target is to cover from a minimum of Tk 5 lacs to Tk 25 lacs of loans to our clients. We will also give Tk 50 lacs or more loans if necessary. People who are interested in building their own house or apartments can take loans under this scheme. The interest rate on these loans will be decided according to the market situation. The monthly installments will be decided as per negotiations with the client. IPDC has also emphasized its plan on the empowerment of the women in its efforts to mark a positive impact as the working-class women are a major driving force of the economy of this country.
Your company’s profile has a very diverse clientele. What are the challenges in maintaining such an eclectic portfolio?
Since its inception, IPDC Finance Limited has played a pivotal role in developing country’s industrial landscape. IPDC has been a partner in several milestone projects that were the first of its kind in Bangladesh. For this reason, we have a strong and diverse base of corporate clientele amongst the financial institutes which are in operation at the moment. Some of our long-term clients are IDLC Finance Limited, Fantasy Kingdom Theme Park, Holcim, Summit, DBH, Apollo Hospitals Dhaka, Westin, National Housing, Ekushey TV, Scholastica and much more. The major challenge to become a successful financial institute is to provide customized solutions to meet the needs of these varied ranges of clients. To continue financing the growing demands for both the Corporate and SME clients we are determined to bring more customizable financial solutions and for that reason, we have shared our stakes with some of the major bodies in the context of Bangladesh.
BRAC, Ayesha Abed Foundation, RSA Capital, Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development, RSA Capital Limited, the general public and the Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh are now the shareholders of this institution. These activities mark our promise and commitment towards our eclectic base of clients to provide one-stop financial solutions right to their doorsteps.
“In its effort to revamp its operation in Bangladesh and in alignment with its key vision to be an active partner in the development of our economy, IPDC has changed its name from ‘Industrial Promotion and Development Company of Bangladesh Limited’ to IPDC Finance Limited.”
Why has the company particularly focused on private sectors? What contributions do you believe these firms can make in progressing the nation?
In the context of the transformation of our industry, it is important to affirm our purpose, what we stand for, and what we aspire to be. We believe that to become the most passionate financial brand in the country we need to eye our focus on youth, women, and underserved areas. Investing in the private sectors will help generate more jobs and opportunities for the hardworking people of our country. IPDC Finance Limited is planning to work on youth unemployment which is one of the major challenges at the moment in Bangladesh. Focusing on the private sector will help create more sustainable opportunities and jobs for the youth of our country. All these activities will help IPDC create a positive impact on the development of Bangladesh. We believe our vision and goals are in clear alignment with the mandate of our current government. In 2017, we have plans to open nine more branch offices across the country to bring 70% of the total population under our financial wing. Apart from our own offices, we have started giving out home loan solutions from ten BRAC offices. To expedite this scheme we are looking forward to signing an MOU with one of our major shareholders, BRAC. We are planning to bring people from remote regions in Bangladesh under our loan schemes.
IPDC has created a loan for Green Financing that will allow companies to upgrade their machinery to be more environmentally friendly. Why is the green initiative so paramount to the company?
Green finance is a broad term that refers to capital raising and financial investments flowing into projects, products, and companies that support the development of a more sustainable, low-carbon and climate resilient economy. Green financing is a standing commitment at IPDC and forms an integral part of the Company’s activities. IPDC’s contribution to social sector development includes several pioneering interventions to pro-actively support meaningful socio-economic development in Bangladesh and enable a larger number of people to participate in and benefit from the country’s economic progress. We are currently in the process of activating our green financing operations with some local companies especially in the disaster prone areas of Bangladesh. We have more plans to initiate more actionable green financing activities in the near future.
‘IPDC acts as catalyst for business expansion’
The IPDC Finance Ltd, a newly revamped non-banking financial institution, has set out with the aim to work for industrial, educational, economic and social development with innovative financial products and services.
Previously known as Industrial Promotion and Development Company of Bangladesh Ltd, the organisation has assumed a new name, logo, corporate colour which epitomise its innovative approach to changing life, society and economy.
IPDC would like to contribute to the process of achieving SDGs and other development goals of the country.
The IPDC management changed its name on the evening of December 20. The logo and corporate colour have also been designed to denote innovative attempts for empowerment and economic emancipation of women, people’s constitutional rights to food, education, health and shelter.
IPDC aims at running its function keeping pace with fast expanding economy of the country with enormous possibilities and potentials.
Finally, it would like to enter the global market with international standard innovative services.
Its new corporate slogan ‘Jago Uchchhashe’ is full of life, spirit and euphoria.
daily sun had a cordial discourse with IPDC Finance Ltd Managing Director and CEO Mominul Islam on December 21.
During the discourse, he shed light on the goals, problems and prospects of the organisation.
The interview is as follows—
daily sun: We have come to know that IPDC is awaiting a big change. Would you please tell us about the major changes?
Monirul Islam: IPDC had a shareholding change last year. BRAC, the largest non-governmental organisation of the world, bought substantial amount of the company’s shares, along with Ayesha Abed Foundation and RSA Capital. After that, the company formulated a long-term strategy considering the challenges and opportunities posed by the Bangladesh economy in next few years. Then we have also built the capacity internally to make sure that we go for a very ambitious growth route going forward.
The strategy we have formulated requires us to present IPDC in a new way to the wider market. Previously, we were dealing with industrial finance. Recently, we have decided to grow and focus on affordable home loan across the country, empowering women as well as generating jobs through creating new entrepreneurs in the market. So, IPDC will work in a larger format to really be relevant to the socio-economic development in this country. That is why, we changed the name of the company from Industrial Promotion and Development Company of Bangladesh Ltd to simply IPDC Finance Ltd on December 20.
We have also changed our logo and also the corporate colour to make it more vibrant and more youthful to really show the future possibilities of this company and future possibilities of this country. So, we come up with our corporate slogan ‘Jago Uchchhashe’. Bangladesh has come a long way from a position of apprehension to a position of possibilities. Now, we are going to a direction of success. This country is now one of the most vibrant economies of the world.
From that angle, we feel that now we need to talk more about positivism, success and rejoice to build up positive momentum in this country to move forward to become a leading economy in international arena. The IPDC wants to be a part of that journey to emerge as an international standard financial institution-for which the country can be proud of.
daily sun: How will you evaluate the performance of your institution since its inception in 1981?
Monirul Islam: The IPDC was established jointly with multilateral agencies such as International Finance Corporation, German Development Organisation, Commonwealth Development Corporation from the UK, Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development from Switzerland in collaboration with the Bangladesh government to promote the private sector industrialisation in the country. Since its inception, IPDC has played a vital role in reshaping private sector industrial landscape of this country.
It acts as a catalyst for expansion of industrial, commercial and educational sectors. We have financed a number of landmark projects in the country like first private sector airline GMG, first private sector telecom company CityCell, first private sector five star hotel Westin, first international standard private sector hospital Apollo, first private sector institutional finance in educational sector Scholastica School and first theme park in the country Fantasy Kingdom.
So, many landmark projects we have established in this country through financing, advising and bridging the relationship between local entrepreneurs and international technology know-how partners. We have introduced many innovative financial products first ever in this country. We have introduced the concept of institutional venture capital through our subsidiary company IDLC, we have introduced lease financing in the country, we have introduced preference share in the company, we have introduced the concept of securitisation of receivables in collaboration with the World Bank back in 2004.
So, IPDC always plays a pioneering role in innovation, creating new industrial sectors and bringing in new financial products in the market. I will evaluate this company’s role as a leading financial institution to be very significant and praiseworthy.
daily sun: What services does IPDC offer?
Monirul Islam: Until very recently, IPDC is mainly a corporate finance company providing financing to large industrial projects, EMREs, working capital. So, products like leasing, project loan, equity investment and corporate advisory—all we are doing. Then we have entered SME and retail services. So, we offer products like deposit, savings scheme, women entrepreneur finance, affordable home loan finance, car loan finance and personal loan. We will be definitely bringing in newer technology-based financial products for this market for better financial inclusion in this country.
daily sun: What competitive edge the products and services of a non-banking financial institution have over that of other banks?
Monirul Islam: Banks in Bangladesh are universal ones. These banks deal with a number of products and services, falling short of specialisation. On the other hand, non-banking financial institutions are more specialised with a few specific products. They create new products and new sectors. They innovate new products which the traditional banks later catch up. From the perspective of innovation and specialisation and service, we are more flexible and more at the reach of customers than the traditional commercial banks. Both commercial banks and non-banking financial institutions are governed by the Bangladesh Bank.
But specialised financial institutions have a distinct role to play in the economy in the sense that they are closer to the target segment with their specific products, better service proposition, better turnaround time, better operational efficiency, and also better innovation. Everywhere in the world, these specialised financial institutions are in the forefront of innovation. IPDC is one of the most innovative financial institutions in the country and this will be also the motto going forward to bring something new to the market which has a demand in the country that is moving towards the middle income status.
daily sun: What is the present state of the non-banking financial sector?
Monirul Islam: Like banking sector, there are institutions which are doing very good and there are institutions which are not on a par with others. But definitely, it is a great opportunity for the financial institutions going forward. Few of us are doing really good and I hope others will catch up. It is much smaller than traditional banking sector. If other members in this sector adopt approach similar to IPDC towards market to find a niche to work on to build a brand, a good technological platform and, most importantly, the risk management and corporate governance framework, then definitely state of this sector will be much better.
daily sun: How much is the market size of NBFIs and banks?
Monirul Islam: The market size of NBFIs together will be around 7 percent of the total market size. It is quite smaller than the banking sector. But the positive thing is NBFIs growth has been faster than the banking sector in the last five years. This is one of the things that has to be acknowledged that we have scope to do. In my institution, our loan portfolio has gone by almost three times in the last nine months.
Besides, growth in deposit portfolio increased from 199 percent to more than 200 percent, our revenue increased by 52 percent and profit boosted by 59 percent. This is one of the testimonies that if you do things right, you can really make sure you grow faster, you grow your market share and you become a preferred choice for your target sector.
daily sun: If the growth of NBFIs continues in current pace, it may supersede traditional banking sector after a certain point of time. Do you think so?
Monirul Islam: Few of us will definitely supersede banks. But the traditional banks have better advantage over NBFIs. As far as the regulatory framework is concerned, they have trade financing, foreign exchange and different transactional banking which we do not have. The size of NBFI is not important. It is material as to how significant role is played by it in the economy. So, NBFIs have a role which different from that of the traditional banks. Our key objectives are to become more financially inclusive, bring in innovation and become specialised in certain sectors. This is how we create some niche in the market which commercial banks may not have.
daily sun: Are there any challenges that the sector is facing?
Monirul Islam: In a country like Bangladesh having emerging economy, the banks and financial institutions face a common problem arising out of non-performing loans. But IPDC is a dry exception for having non-performing loan below 1 percent at this moment. We have a problem. Unlike banks, NBFIs do not have current and savings accounts.
Most of our funds come from deposits. So, our cost of fund is a little bit higher. This is a challenge for us. We will be introducing new financial instrument to raise fund at cheaper rate and in more efficient way. A traditional bank deals with many issues but it is hard hit by higher operational cost. Whatever gain a bank has may be superseded by a lower operational cost by NBFI.
daily sun: How those can be overcome?
Monirul Islam: We are in the business of risk. Understanding the inherent risk in our business is the topmost priority. Then setting up your capacity to manage the risk by assessing the risk, making a coverage against the risk, pricing product institutionalising corporate governance. Unless and until you have a solid and transparent organisational policy and internal control system, you cannot manage banking and financing business well.
Fund management is also important. As far as IPDC is concerned, our policies are unbiased and uninfluenced by any external pressure. So, transparent corporate governance and low cost of fund, low operational cost and innovative financial products are crucial to success of a fiancial organisation.
daily sun: How financial institutions can get rid of non-performing loan problem?
Monirul Islam: For a new loan, we need to understand customer profile, business profile, industry risk and market risk. We should give a customer financial offer which meets his demand and need, not giving him more and not giving him less. Secondly, we need to negotiate with a customer having follow-up measures daily basis and consult our lawyers about legal redress. So, we need to handle the issue efficiently. We do these things very meticulously. If other organisations follow these procedures, they will be able to overcome the crisis.
daily sun: Many people are still in the dark about the services of NBFIs. It hinders development of the sector. What can be done to end the situation?
Monirul Islam: It is important for us to understand what kind of business we are doing. Until very recently, NBFIs are mainly focusing on corporate and business banking. They do not need much market branding and recognition. As few of us have gone into SME and retail, we need branding to let our target segment know about our products and services. As we are smaller than commercial banks with lower distribution network, fewer branches and products, we did not have much market recognition.
But you see we have re-launched our brand with a view to making it vibrant. We are coming to media to ensure customers that it is a superior institution which they can trust, deposit and also seek best services. If any organisation wants to grow, it will have to ensure that it builds the capacity in terms of internal and external communications to market.
daily sun: What does the future hold for the non-banking financial sector in Bangladesh?
Monirul Islam: As the economy is growing, newer opportunities are coming and technology is reshaping the landscape of financial market all over the world. So, concepts like machine learning, artificial intelligence and block change are coming in a big way. There is a very successful example of innovative concept being bKash in sending money from one place to another quickly.
So, companies like this will be in direct competition. But this is also an opportunity for few of us to harness the power of technology to get into market more promptly and more efficiently and more customer-centric way.
This is very important to understand the customer segment we have and the customer segment we are going to have in five to ten years time quite different. The present generation is millennium one having global exposure. They understand technology. So, their demand will be higher and their behaviour be certainly different in terms of what they communicate and what they need. At the same time, the country is going to grow and that gives us enormous potential to grow our business. If we are efficient, visionary and forward-looking, definitely we will create a niche in this market with better products and better service.
নতুনভাবে পরিচিত করা হচ্ছে আইপিডিসিকে
প্রথম আলো: আমরা জানি, আইপিডিসি নতুন করে রি-ব্র্যান্ডিং শুরু করতে যাচ্ছে। সেটি কেন?
মমিনুল ইসলাম: আইপিডিসি বাংলাদেশের আর্থিক খাতের প্রথম কোম্পানি হিসেবে ১৯৮১ সালে যাত্রা শুরু করে। কোম্পানিটি প্রতিষ্ঠার অন্যতম উদ্দেশ্য ছিল বেসরকারি খাতের শিল্পোন্নয়ন। প্রতিষ্ঠার পর থেকে বেসরকারি শিল্প খাতের উন্নয়নে আইপিডিসি একটি গুরুত্বপূর্ণ ভূমিকা রেখেছে। পরবর্তী সময়ে এসে আমরা দেখছি বাংলাদেশে অন্য অনেক খাতেও অর্থের বিপুল চাহিদা তৈরি হয়েছে। যেমন গৃহনির্মাণ খাত, ক্ষুদ্র ও মাঝারি শিল্প, নারীর ক্ষমতায়ন, তরুণ উদ্যোক্তা শ্রেণিতে ঋণের প্রয়োজনীয়তা ও চাহিদা বেড়েছে। এসব ক্ষেত্রেও আর্থিক খাতের ভূমিকা রাখার বিপুল সুযোগ রয়েছে। তাই গত বছর থেকে আমরা প্রবৃদ্ধি সহায়ক নতুন ব্যবসা পরিকল্পনা তৈরি করেছি। সেই নতুন পরিকল্পনা নিয়েই নতুনভাবে নতুন উদ্দেশ্য সামনে রেখে এ দেশের মানুষের সামনে আইপিডিসিকে হাজির করতে চাই।
প্রথম আলো: নতুন ব্যবসায়িক পরিকল্পনাটি কেমন? কী উদ্দেশ্যকে সামনে রেখে রি-ব্র্যান্ডিং শুরু করছেন?
মমিনুল ইসলাম: নতুন ব্যবসা পরিকল্পনায় সাশ্রয়ী গৃহঋণ, নারীর ক্ষমতায়ন, তরুণ ও নতুন উদ্যোক্তা সৃষ্টিকে সর্বাধিক গুরুত্ব দিয়েছি। পাশাপাশি শিল্প ঋণের দিকেও আমাদের নজর থাকবে। যেহেতু ব্যবসায়িক পরিকল্পনা ও লক্ষ্যের দিক থেকে আইপিডিসির পরিসরকে অনেক বেশি বিস্তৃত করা হয়েছে, তাই আমরা মনে করেছি নতুন পরিকল্পনার পাশাপাশি ব্র্যান্ডিংয়েও নতুনত্ব আনার। প্রায় ৩৫ বছর আমরা ব্যবসা পরিচালনা করেছি। এখন যেহেতু আরও বেশি মানুষের কাছে আমরা পৌঁছানোর লক্ষ্য স্থির করেছি, তাই নতুনভাবে আইপিডিসিকে পরিচিত করার উদ্যোগ নেওয়া হয়েছে।
প্রথম আলো: তার মানে কি আপনারা করপোরেট অর্থায়ন থেকে এখন ভোক্তা অর্থায়নের দিকে বেশি ঝুঁকছেন?
মমিনুল ইসলাম: অবশ্যই। আমরা শিল্প ঋণের পরিবর্তে এখন ভোক্তা ঋণের প্রতি বেশি নজর দিচ্ছি। এ জন্য নানা পরিকল্পনা গ্রহণ করা হয়েছে। গ্রাহকের কাছে সহজে ঋণ সহায়তা পৌঁছে দিতে অনেকের সঙ্গে জোটবদ্ধ হচ্ছি। গৃহঋণ বিতরণে এরই মধ্যে বিএসআরএম ও ক্রাউন সিমেন্টের মতো প্রতিষ্ঠানের সঙ্গে চুক্তিবদ্ধ হয়েছি। এসব চুক্তির আওতায় কোম্পানি দুটির গ্রাহকদের কম সুদে ঋণ সুবিধা দেওয়ার পাশাপাশি প্রয়োজনীয় নানা সেবাও দেওয়া হবে।
প্রথম আলো: কিন্তু ভোক্তা ঋণে তো ঝুঁকি বেশি। সেই ক্ষেত্রে প্রতিষ্ঠানের জন্য ঝুঁকি বেড়ে যাচ্ছে না তো?
মমিনুল ইসলাম: আর্থিক ব্যবসাটাই সব সময় ঝুঁকিপূর্ণ ব্যবসা। এই ঝুঁকিকে কে কত দক্ষতার সঙ্গে মোকাবিলা করতে পারছে, তার ওপরই নির্ভর করছে সাফল্য। এ মুহূর্তে আইপিডিসির খেলাপি বা মন্দ ঋণের পরিমাণ শূন্য দশমিক ৮৬ শতাংশ। কোম্পানির পরিশোধিত মূলধন প্রায় ১৫১ কোটি ৫০ লাখ টাকা। বর্তমানে বিভিন্ন খাতে আইপিডিসির বিতরণ করা ঋণের পরিমাণ প্রায় ১ হাজার ৯০০ কোটি টাকা। আর্থিক খাতে যতগুলো কোম্পানি রয়েছে তার মধ্যে আমাদের খেলাপি ঋণের পরিমাণ সবচেয়ে কম। তা সত্ত্বেও বর্তমান খেলাপি ঋণের বিপরীতে সঞ্চিতি বা প্রভিশনিংয়ের পরিমাণ ১৯১ শতাংশ। যদি ভবিষ্যতে আইপিডিসির খেলাপি ঋণ বেড়ে দ্বিগুণও হয়ে যায়, তাতেও আমাদের খুব বেশি সমস্যার মুখোমুখি হতে হবে না।
প্রথম আলো: কীভাবে খেলাপি ঋণের হারকে ১ শতাংশের নিচে নামিয়ে আনলেন?
মমিনুল ইসলাম: একসময় আইপিডিসির খেলাপি ঋণের পরিমাণ অনেক বেড়ে গিয়েছিল। এরপর নতুন ঋণ দেওয়ার ক্ষেত্রে ঝুঁকি ব্যবস্থাপনাকে আমরা নতুনভাবে সাজিয়েছি। সে কারণে নতুন বিতরণ করা ঋণে খেলাপির পরিমাণ অনেক কমে আসে। পাশাপাশি পুরোনো খেলাপি ঋণ আদায়ে কোথাও কোথাও আইনগত ব্যবস্থা নিয়েছি। কখনো কখনো সমঝোতার মাধ্যমে ঋণ আদায় করেছি। এসব কারণে এখন আইপিডিসির ব্যালেন্সশিট বা স্থিতিপত্র অনেক পরিচ্ছন্ন ও শক্তিশালী হয়েছে। এ কারণেই মূলত আমরা নতুন করে প্রবৃদ্ধিমূলক ব্যবসায়িক কৌশল হাতে নিতে পেরেছি।
প্রথম আলো: কিন্তু বাংলাদেশের বাস্তবতায় তো আমরা দেখি ঋণ বিতরণের ক্ষেত্রে পরিচালনা পর্ষদ থেকে শুরু করে বাহ্যিক নানা প্রভাব ও সংশ্লিষ্টতা থাকে। যার একটি উল্লেখযোগ্য অংশ পরবর্তী সময়ে খেলাপি ঋণে পরিণত হয়।
মমিনুল ইসলাম: আমাদের দেশে ঋণের বাজারে একধরনের অদক্ষতা রয়েছে। আর্থসামাজিক কিছু সমস্যা রয়েছে। যেগুলোকে আমরা বাজার ঝুঁকি হিসেবে বিবেচনা করে থাকি। গত ১০ বছরে খেলাপি ঋণ আদায়ে আইপিডিসি বড় ধরনের দক্ষতার পরিচয় দিয়েছে, যা আমাদের আত্মবিশ্বাসও বাড়িয়েছে। নতুন যে ব্যবসায়িক পরিকল্পনা হাতে নিয়েছি, সেখানেও সব ধরনের ঝুঁকিকে বিবেচনায় নিয়ে ঝুঁকি মোকাবিলার কর্মকৌশল ঠিক করা হয়েছে।
প্রথম আলো: আপনারা সাশ্রয়ী গৃহঋণের কথা বলছেন। গ্রাহকেরা আসলে কত সুদে এ ঋণ সুবিধা নিতে পারবেন?
মমিনুল ইসলাম: গৃহঋণের ক্ষেত্রে আমাদের সুদের হার সর্বনিম্ন ৯ থেকে সর্বোচ্চ সাড়ে ১০ শতাংশ। সর্বনিম্ন ৫ লাখ থেকে সর্বোচ্চ ৫ কোটি টাকা পর্যন্ত গৃহ খাতে ঋণ দিয়ে থাকি। গৃহঋণ নিয়ে অনাকাঙ্ক্ষিত কোনো কারণে যাতে ঋণগ্রহীতার পরিবার বিপদে না পড়ে, সে জন্য গৃহঋণের পাশাপাশি জীবনবিমা সুবিধা দিচ্ছি। যার কারণে ঋণ ঝুঁকিও কমবে। ঋণের পাশাপাশি বিনা মাশুলে আমরা গ্রাহকদের বাড়ি নির্মাণসহ প্রয়োজনীয় বিভিন্ন বিষয়ে পরামর্শ সেবাও দিচ্ছি। যাতে করে গ্রাহক কোনোভাবে প্রতারিত না হন।
প্রথম আলো: আমরা জানি সম্প্রতি আইপিডিসির শেয়ারের মালিকানার হাতবদল হয়েছে। সেই বিষয়ে জানতে চাই।
মমিনুল ইসলাম: আমাদের প্রতিষ্ঠানের শেয়ারধারীদের মধ্যে বেশির ভাগই প্রতিষ্ঠান। শেয়ারধারীদের মধ্যে রয়েছে বাংলাদেশ সরকার, আগা খান ফাউন্ডেশন ফর ইকোনমিক ডেভেলপমেন্ট, ব্র্যাক, আয়েশা আবেদ ফাউন্ডেশন, আরএসএ ক্যাপিটাল ও সাধারণ বিনিয়োগকারী। ২০১৫ সালে আগা খান ফাউন্ডেশন ফর ইকোনমিক ডেভেলপমেন্টের কাছ থেকে ৪০ শতাংশ শেয়ার কিনে নিয়েছে ব্র্যাক, আয়েশা আবেদ ফাউন্ডেশন ও আরএসএ ক্যাপিটাল।