Automatic bank account verification introduced for savings certificates

The government has moved to plug a major source of payment errors in the national savings system by introducing an Automatic Account Verification System (AVS) to ensure investors receive profits and principal in the correct bank accounts.

The new system takes effect from 15 September, with Bangladesh Bank and scheduled banks jointly verifying customers’ bank account details in real time when savings certificates or bonds are purchased.

The initiative, introduced under the Finance Division’s Strengthening Public Financial Management Programme to Enable Service Delivery (SPFMS), is expected to make payments faster, safer and more accurate while reducing the administrative burden of correcting failed transactions.

Of the government’s 11 national savings schemes, nine are currently operated through the National Savings Scheme Online Management System (NSC System).

The scale of the operation is substantial. According to the National Savings Directorate, the system has 3,946,224 registered individual customers, while around 175,000 electronic fund transfers (EFTs) are made every day to distribute profits and principal. Around 8,000 new savings certificates are also issued daily.

Previously, investors’ bank account numbers were entered into the online system without automatic verification. Any error in an account number or related information could result in an EFT being returned, forcing officials to correct the details and process the payment again.

Under the AVS, the account number will be checked through Bangladesh Bank’s information technology infrastructure and the relevant scheduled bank. The system will confirm whether the account is valid and active and match the account holder’s information with their National Identity Card (NID) or passport number.

The verification facility will also apply when investors seek to change or correct their bank account details.

Officials said the new system would significantly reduce payment failures and investor inconvenience while strengthening the security and accuracy of government disbursements.

For millions of savings investors, the reform could mean fewer payment delays, fewer rejected transfers and greater certainty that their hard-earned returns reach the right account without the need for manual correction.