"DANA" - Bangladesh's Sole Retailer Financing Platform by IPDC Finance Ltd.

Abstract

IPDC Finance Limited is the first establishment, private sector financial institution of Bangladesh. Since its the company has played a crucial part in evolving the country’s industrial landscape. The company has made headlines consecutively as the super brand in the financial sector. The mission of IPDC is to be the most treasured and groundbreaking financial institution in the country. IPDC is a rapid growing NBFI which has been serving its customers across the country with loans and deposit options. I was recruited as an intern for the Corporate Business Department’s Dana Project team under Business Finance at IPDC Finance Limited. Dana is a wing of Corporate Business which is the exclusive retailer financing platform in Bangladesh. My core responsibilities were to ensure successful onbo arding process. This included checking that the customers fulfilled all the basic onboarding criteria. Further down the road I worked with the project associates as I was becoming an expert in this field. In this research I have outlined how IPDC’s DANA, a sole retailer financing platform in the country provided hope to capital constrained MSME retailers during covid19 pandemic stricken economy. Many firms have previously tried this approach but couldn’t make a sustainable approach to such a project. DANA provides collateral free funding services to MSME retailer by being directly involved in the manufacturer’s supply chain. They ensure products to loan applicants against the loan amount demanded by using the distribution system of the manufacturer. In this research I have put forward an extensive study of the NBFI industry, followed by a thorough company profile which really helped setup the research. I then proceeded on to explain historical existing literature on retailer financing. This would create any previous knowledge required for review of this study. Finally the operational structure of DANA is very well explained with proper research finding and analysis were carried out to support my theory. This research proves that DANA is successful in reaching the most underserved individuals of the nation and is also successful in diversifying IPDC’s overall market portfolio.