Cattle marketplaces go ‘smart’

Carrying large cash is risky, especially in the cattle market -the ‘Smart Booth’ has made easier.

Badshah Miah, a cattle trader from Kushtia’s Kumarkhali, just made the sale of one of the 10 large cows he brought at the makeshift Qurbani cattle marketplaces in Dhaka’s Diabari area in Uttara.

“I received Tk 1,86,000 cash from the buyer. Immediately I could deposit the amount to my bank account using the ‘Smart Booth’ and received confirmation via text message. My money is safe now,” he said while being interviewed by http://bdnews24.com on Tuesday.

Chuadanga’s Motaleb Hossain, another cattle farmer, was able to sell off one of the cows at Tk 2,25.000 and was relieved that he did not have to carry around the cash until he made the sale of his final cow.

“Carrying large cash is risky, especially in the cattle market. The ‘Smart Booth’ has made my life easier. I deposited the money here and will withdraw it from my branch in Chuadanga," he said.

The ‘Smart Booths’ at Qurbani cattle marketplaces are services offered by the Dhaka North City Corporation, or DNCC, in cooperation with multiple commercial banks and mobile financial services, or MFS.

The city, in association with Bangladesh Bank, Bangladesh Department of Livestock Services and Bangladesh Dairy Farmers’ Association, declared the following eight such make-shift marketplaces as ‘Smart Cattle Markets’-

- Uttara’s Diabari

- Eastern Housing area in Mirpur

- Aftabnagar of Badda

- Saidnagar in Bhatara

- Bosila area of Mohammadpur

- The playground of Dhaka Polytechnic Institute

- Kaola Shialdanga

- Gabtoli

The banks and MFSs associated with the endeavours are AB Bank, Bank Asia, BRAC Bank, Eastern Bank, IFIC Bank, Islami Bank, Mutual Trust Bank, Pubali Bank, and United Commercial Bank. Bkash, Nagad, Upay, and mCash.

These ‘Smart Booths’ were also extending support to buyers.

Airman Atiqur Rahman picked a sacrificial cow which cost a few thousand more than the cash he had in his possession. He was able to solve the dilemma with the aid of these booths.

“I could withdraw some cash from my account through the booth. Setting such booths up was smart thinking,” he said.

However, even after DNCC’s endorsement and campaigning, the service has yet to garner much attention.

Until Monday, a total of only 270 accounts have been opened in these banks, and 4,181 transactions worth over Tk 150.26 million have been made through these accounts, according to a senior official, who did not reveal his name, involved in setting up the services at the cattle marketplaces.

However, the same official also said they were picking up signs after Tuesday afternoon, which may force them to change gear soon.

“Usually, sales in cattle markets hit their peak only three days before Eid [Eid-ul-Azha], which means from today [Tuesday] afternoon until tomorrow [Wednesday], we are expecting serious traffic of transactions,” he said.

Dipak Chandra Das, a senior manager at the BRAC Bank, which is providing ‘Smart Booth’ services at the Diabari cattle marketplace, said he was expecting to double the number of transactions his bank made on Monday, which is 15 million.

“We are not only offering traders to deposit the cash they made from sales, but also offering the buyers to withdraw cash if necessary, checking counterfeit banknotes before a sale was made, and even helping traders open bank accounts. All these services are free-of-charge,” he said.

Afzal Hossain, a cattle trader from Naogaon who set up shop at the Aftabnagar marketplace, was a direct beneficiary of the counterfeit banknote checking services.

“If these chaps [people at the Smart Booths] weren’t here, I would have lost Tk 1,000 from my sale as one of the notes I received from a sale was counterfeit,” he said.

Praising the initiative, Abdul Mannan, the lessee of the Aftabnagar marketplace, said the service ensures the safety of cash the traders have been making from their sales.

DNCC Mayor Md Atiqul Islam, while visiting the Diabari marketplace site on Tuesday, said the city had expanded the services this year after receiving positive feedback from traders and buyers in the last two years.