BRAC Bank has concluded a comprehensive series of regional entrepreneur conferences across six districts in Bangladesh to promote its digital small and medium enterprise (SME) e-loan platform, “Shafollo”. Characterised as the first digital SME financing solution of its kind within the Bangladeshi banking sector, the rollout represents a significant shift towards automated financial inclusion for small and medium-scale businesses.
The engagement series, officially designated as the “Shafollo Uddokta Shomabesh”, convened more than 600 small and medium business owners across the districts of Gazipur, Dinajpur, Sherpur, Jamalpur, Syedpur, and Rajshahi. According to an official media release issued by the institution, the project was designed to reinforce the bank’s corporate commitment to providing fast, transparent, and paperless lending options to businesses that traditionally face high barriers to formal credit.
Institutional Collaboration and Regional Engagement
The nationwide awareness campaign was conducted with the institutional and financial support of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The collaborative initiative sought to drive digital literacy regarding automated lending systems and to reduce reliance on physical documentation in the rural and semi-urban SME sectors.
The geographic distribution of the seminars and the operational parameters of the “Shafollo” lending framework are detailed in the table below:
| Conference Parameter / District Location | Target Audience / Participant Count | Core Product Attributes | Financial Support Partner |
| Gazipur | Local SME Owners | 100% Paperless Application | Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation |
| Dinajpur | Agro-Traders & Entrepreneurs | Instant Automated Disbursal | Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation |
| Sherpur | Light Industrialists & Retailers | Real-Time Eligibility Tracking | Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation |
| Jamalpur | Cottage Industry Operators | Transparent Processing Fees | Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation |
| Syedpur | Commercial Trade Owners | Direct Mobile Wallet Linkage | Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation |
| Rajshahi | Manufacturing & Silk Traders | On-the-Spot System Evaluation | Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation |
Live System Demonstrations and Operational Assessment
A central component of each conference was a live, real-time demonstration of the “Shafollo” platform’s capabilities. For the first time in the history of the country’s financial sector, actual loan applications were processed and disbursed on-the-spot to qualified attendees. This public execution was utilized by the bank to verify its technical claims regarding the speed, security, and administrative transparency of its automated underwriting algorithms.
During the interactive sessions, BRAC Bank’s technical and retail teams actively gathered empirical feedback and direct user testimonies from the participating entrepreneurs. Management noted that the primary data collected regarding user experience, interface navigation, and localized borrowing requirements will be used directly to refine the platform’s features, optimise the automated credit scoring model, and enhance general consumer convenience across regional branches.
Following the completion of these six district conferences, the institutional data will be integrated into the bank’s broader digital transformation strategy to expand automated credit facilities throughout Bangladesh’s informal retail supply chains.