The State of E-Finance in Developing Countries: Bangladesh Perspective

This paper explores how e-finance can improve access to finance situation in Bangladesh for the market as a whole, and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in particular. The author states that emergence and growth of e-finance in a country depends on the following factors:

• Availability and growth of reliable and secured information infrastructure;
• Information technology penetration in businesses and financial sector;
• Prevailing business patterns and business culture;
• Legal and regulatory framework.

The author then examines e-finance initiatives in Bangladesh, and identifies challenges that the sector faces;

• Technical assistance in technological up gradation and preparing legal framework is essential for the developing and the least developed countries;
• Monetary policy related issues like international reserve of a country and currency convertibility impact e-finance growth;
• Shortfall in investments made in Information Technology.