Impact of financial literacy program on women’s participation in economy of Bangladesh: insights from City Alo Uthan Boithok

Abstract

This internship report was prepared as partial completion of the Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) program. The report is based on a three-month internship in one of the topmost private commercial banks in Bangladesh; City Bank PLC and the particular unit of the bank, is the City Alo - Women Banking Department. The ultimate aim of the internship was to have practical exposure to the banking sector and to be able to correlate the information learnt in school with real life organizational practice. The report focuses on the overview of City Bank PLC including its background, vision, mission, organizational structure, management practices and products and services of the organization. Specific discussion operations of City Alo as a women dedicated proposition that seeks to empower women entrepreneurs with a variety of financial activities, providing training and advisory services to achieve financial inclusion and sustainable economic growth. The tasks and duties performed during the internship period consisted of but were not limited to assisting with the communication between customers, supporting women entrepreneurship training and certification programs, collecting and maintaining business data, report preparation and presentation material preparation and coordinat ion with the internal stakeholders. The activities offered me workable experience regarding customer relationship management, operations and female-sensitive banking services. In order to analyze the organizational and strategic position of City Bank PLC, analytical tools, including SWOT Analysis, DuPont Analysis and Porter's Five Forces Model are also used in this report. Through these analyses, the strengths of the bank were revealed to be the reputation and digital banking as well as the niche market programs and the weaknesses were also noted as being high competition, regulatory pressure and technological risks. Overall, the internship experience in City Bank PLC was very beneficial for enhancing the professional skills and ability to analyze, as well as the knowledge of the banking industry. The report finds that City Alo has a major role to play in women empowerment and inclusion in financial matters, as well as contributing towards the overall strategic goals of City Bank PLC and the economic development of Bangladesh.