Brac Bank Limited began with the vision to provide banking solutions to the ‘unbanked' Small and Medium Entrepreneurs. Taking inspiration from its parent organization BRAC, the largest NGO in the world, Brac Bank introduced small ticket loans to the small and medium enterprises (SME), to specifically bring the grassroots entrepreneurs under the umbrella of formal banking service.

Through the Tally Loan Druti, the bank wanted to expand its services and facilities to small businesses across Bangladesh who remain unserved by the formal financial sector.

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.

Despite substantial expansion of bank branches and increase in the membership of MFIs and other financial institutions, a large number of the country’s adult population still remains financially excluded. In Bangladesh, a large part of the financially excluded population comprises of small traders. These individuals are usually self-employed, urban slum dwellers, migrants, ethnic minorities and socially excluded groups including poor senior citizens and women. There are a variety of reasons for their financial exclusion. From the demand side, lack of awareness, fear, low income/assets, social exclusion and financial illiteracy act as barriers to accessing financial services. From the supply side, distance from the bank branch, branch timing, cumbersome documentation and other procedures, inflexible processes are common reasons for exclusion.

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.

BRAC Bank’s field officers directly went to the small traders at their stores. They verified the bookkeeping ledgers (Tally Books), assessed the transactions and created a credit history based on them.

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.

The Tally Loan Druti (speedy in Bangla) invited small traders to get loans approved within 72 hours by allowing bank field officers to assess their credit history through the traditional bookkeeping called Tally Khata, which has been used in this region for over a thousand years. Small business owners can now use their Tally Khata as proof of transactions and creditworthiness to apply for a bank loan.

• 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 of Tally Loan Druti began 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 formal channels.

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

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.