In Bangladesh, financial institutions are seen as intimidating environments for small traders. Banks, traditionally require an exhaustive list of credit history and supporting documents. Most small businesses lack these documents and the ability to create or maintain them. As such, over 8 million small traders are left out of the financial system, unable to access formal credit and banking services.

However, if the mountain won't come to you, you must go to the mountain. Brac Bank’s Druti field agents allow traders to access both a simplistic, convenient, positive banking experience and products without ever coming to a bank.

Banking policy in Bangladesh requires 2 years of credit history or mortgage to grant loans. But more than eight million small traders have neither and are left out of the financial system. Due to their largely informal nature they lack the documentation and credit history required to access formal loans and other banking services. These entrepreneurs struggle to get financing for their business, often having to resort to riskier alternatives of loan sharks.

Brac Bank wanted to break this traditional banking policy and make the banking experience more flexible, positive and friendly; so that the experience would be suited to the business needs of the small enterprises.

The objective was to drive financial inclusion through provision of services and credit facilities to cottage, micro & small entrepreneurs across Bangladesh, especially for those, who were outside the purview of access to credit from formal channels.

The devil lies in the details as conventional financial mechanisms and products require banking transactions, credit history, annual financial statements along with an exhaustive list of documents. The traditional small trader unable to demonstrate these processes and documents, struggles to prove a verifiable cash flow and thus remains out of reach, unserved by the financial sector.

Brac Bank realized that although small traders did not carry the established documentation required to access formal loans, they did however use a traditional form of record keeping, known as the Tally Book to facilitate their monthly cash cycles and keep track all transactions. This ledger is such an integral part of local business culture that the core celebration for the Bengali New Year starts with traders opening a new tally book.

We decided to recognize the Tally Book as an acceptable financial instrument in judging loan applications for small traders.

The campaign was crafted to target cottage, micro & small entrepreneurs across Bangladesh, especially for those, who were outside the purview of access to credit from formal channels. This audience is one that is largely intimidated by the inflexible, complicated documentation and time consuming, process driven approach of traditional financial institutions.

We recognized that the cookie-cutter financial instrument approach was unsuitable to the needs of the small business sector. We needed a solution that would be simple for the traders to understand, convenient for them to use, flexible to their needs and was disbursed speedily.

The Tally Loan Druti (speedy in Bangla) allowed traders to get loans approved within 72 hours by allowing bank field officers to assess their credit history through their Tally Book records. We bypassed the banking policy that requires 2 years of credit history by using the Tally Book as the replacement for banking credit history.

• Implementation

BRAC Bank’s field officers approached small traders directly at stores. They verified ledger books (Tally Books), assessed the transactions and created a credit history based on them. Bank officers then helped the small business owners open bank accounts and fill up loan application forms. Finally, they ensured the approval of loans within 72 hours.

• Timeline

Development for the Tally Loan Druti began in November 2021, and was launched on April 1, 2022.

• Placement

Campaign was launched in the suburban regions of Gazipur and Savar in Bangladesh. Since then, the segment has expanded its network to include a new region in Narayanganj, and will soon include Cumilla and Narsingdi regions.

• Scale

Tally Loan Druti's future plan is to continue expanding its services and credit facilities to cottage, micro & small entrepreneurs across Bangladesh, especially for those, who were outside the purview of access to credit from

The loan was approved by Bangladesh Bank

Allowed for the previously unbanked to contribute to national economy

Reduced inequality

Broke cycles of debt for small traders

8M+ small traders can now access bank loans

Saved 21% money

Received bank loans at 9% interest

9,864 small traders received loans and achieved financial inclusion

Total loan disbursement value: 24.8M+ USD

Enabled acquisition plan: 50,000 small traders by 2023

Organic PR value: 45000 USD

Despite huge leaps in economic development, more than 8 million small traders across Bangladesh are still unable to access formal credit or other banking services. This remains due to the stringent, largely inflexible, complicated documentation and time consuming, process driven approach of traditional financial institutions when disbursing financial services. All of these tend to intimidate the small traders of Bangladesh, many of whom have limited literacy levels and are financially illiterate.

We recognized that the cookie-cutter financial instrument approach was unsuitable to the needs of the small business sector. We needed a solution that would be simple for the traders to understand, convenient for them to use, flexible to their needs and was disbursed speedily.

The Tally Loan Druti (speedy in Bangla) allowed traders to get loans approved within 72 hours by allowing bank field officers to assess their credit history through their Tally Book records.

There is a strong cultural connection between the Tally Khata (Tally Book) and Pohela Boishakh (the first day of the Bengali Calendar). Bengali merchants, shopkeepers and traders open a new ledger/Tally Khata and they carry forward the previous year's unfinished accounts to the new ledger. They also invite customers to begin the celebrations of Pohela Boishakh. Seeking to improve their relationship with customers, traders give sweets, snacks, or gifts to them. This festival is known as the Haal Khata, which translates to the opening of a new ledger.

The book is then maintained religiously, with each and every transaction made through out the year being noted down to exact numbers. For these reasons, all small traders will maintain a Tally Book in their establishment. It is the financial instrument that they use to calculate their daily sales, profits, and losses. The entire year's transactions are recorded in this book.