Itahari sees influx of private banks

Itahari, a city located at the intersection of Biratnagar, Jhapa and Dharan, has neither large trading houses nor a huge industrial base. But the number of banks and financial institutions entering in this market has increased sharply over the last two years.

The growing market and emerging trading hub of the region had only the branches of three public sector banks -- Rastriya Banijya Bank (RBB), Agricultural Development Bank Limited (ADBL) and Nepal Bank Limited (NBL) -- till three years ago. But today, Itahari has branches of 16 private banks and financial institutions, including Everest Bank, Laxmi Bank, Kumari Bank, Nabil Bank, Nepal SBI Bank, Bank of Asia Nepal, Himalayan Bank, Goodwill Finance and Birgunj Finance among others. Three more banks are also in the process of opening their branches here.

Officials of the banks attribute this growth to the rapid development of Itahari as a trading hub in eastern Nepal. Owing to its location, Itahari is fast emerging as a market supplying goods and services to the people living in the hilly districts of the region. For instance, a large number of people in the hilly districts rely on banks in the city to collect their remittance income. Businessmen also procure their goods from Itahari. The city also serves as the distribution hub for vegetables, fruits and other food and agro-products to and from the adjoining Tarai and hilly districts.

Apart from economic reasons, some bankers even attribute a relatively better security situation for the mushrooming of financial institutions in the city. The opening of new branches, meanwhile, has eased lives of general customers. For instance, people now need not rely on particular institution for banking services. They also need not stand on queues for hours and the introduction of modern services has further eased their money management.

Jivan Ghimire, loans officer at the ADBL, said the new banks were also pledging higher interest rate on deposits and also providing loans at lower interest rates. Schemes that enable people to open accounts at zero balances and products that target savings from women, children and senior citizens have also lured people to the private banking services. Automated teller machines (ATMs), mobile banking and SMS services too are drawing more people to banking network.

“Twenty-four hours service and services even during public holidays have also eased lives of the people,” said Menuka Pandey of Itahari-8.

The competition among private banks has also compelled the public sector banks to improve their services. They are not only upgrading their operating system, but are also jumping into businesses where they were not present so far.
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