TARA grows into women-focused banking ecosystem
Brac Bank's women-focused banking proposition TARA has completed nine years, serving half a million women across Bangladesh.
Launched on 4 May 2017, TARA has grown into a two-wing ecosystem – TARA Retail and TARA SME – supporting women from opening their first bank account to running and expanding businesses.
The bank said TARA now accounts for around 25% of the country's retail banking deposit portfolio held by women.
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TARA Retail serves women across all eight divisions, including salaried professionals, homemakers, students, first-time savers and senior citizens. More than 3.5 lakh women are retail customers under the proposition, holding over Tk14,000 crore in deposits.
Over nine years, TARA's retail customer base has grown more than 80 times, while deposits have increased more than 60 times, Brac Bank said.
The Homemaker Account has removed the income-proof barrier for women managing households without formal income, while the TARA Virtual Savings Account offers a fully online banking option with a virtual debit card.
The bank also marks occasions such as Mother's Day, Breast Cancer Awareness Month and International Women's Day through campaigns and services designed for women customers.
TARA SME serves more than 1.28 lakh women entrepreneurs, with a loan portfolio exceeding Tk2,600 crore and deposits of over Tk2,800 crore. The wing recorded 17% asset growth and 72% deposit growth in the most recent year, while keeping its non-performing loan ratio at 1.14%.
TARA's entrepreneur-focused initiatives include TARA Uddokta Mela, Uddokta 101, Amrai TARA, Uddog TARA and the WSME Branch Training programme. These initiatives support women entrepreneurs with market access, business knowledge, digital training, financial literacy and documentation support.
More than 2,000 women entrepreneurs have also received a free one-year ERP subscription to help track business transactions digitally.
Brac Bank said TARA has earned several international recognitions, including awards from the Financial Alliance for Women and the Global SME Finance Awards.
"TARA was built on the conviction that women are not a niche to be served, but a market to be served well," said Brac Bank Managing Director and CEO Tareq Refat Ullah Khan.
"Nine years on, the trajectory of the proposition and what it has meant for hundreds of thousands of women across Bangladesh affirms that conviction. Our work is not finished. It is, in many ways, just beginning," he added.
