BB halts all direct customer services from today

Bangladesh Bank has discontinued all direct customer services—from the sale of savings certificates and prize bonds to the exchange of torn notes and automated invoices.

The decision applies simultaneously to all offices, including Motijheel—effective from today (November 23).

In a statement issued last Thursday, the central bank said that no central bank in the world provides such counter services directly to the public. As a KPI-listed institution, Bangladesh Bank has stopped these services citing security concerns.

Earlier, the plan was to suspend services at the Motijheel office on 30 November and then gradually at other branches. However, the timeline was moved up, and all offices have now stopped the services at once.

These services were previously available at Motijheel, Sadarghat, Chattogram, Khulna, Barishal, Rangpur, Bogura, Rajshahi, and Sylhet offices.

To ensure smooth service delivery, the central bank has instructed commercial banks to strengthen their operations and announced enhanced monitoring.