Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) on Sunday signed memoranda of understanding with five private commercial banks to integrate them into its One Stop Service (OSS) platform, expanding the digital investment facilitation ecosystem.

The signing ceremony, held at BIDA's conference room, brought NCC Bank PLC, One Bank PLC, United Commercial Bank (UCB) PLC, Shimanto Bank PLC and Al-Arafah Islami Bank PLC into the fold.

BIDA Executive Member Air Commodore Md. Shaharul Huda, who chaired the event, said the authority was steadily strengthening its OSS platform to deliver faster, simpler and more modern services to investors. "By integrating these five leading banks, investors can now access essential banking services from a single window."

Under the agreements, investors will be able to open bank accounts online through the OSS portal including provisional accounts for foreign investors without approaching banks separately.

The OSS platform currently offers 142 services through 47 stakeholder agencies including BIDA, and has processed over 215,000 applications to date. Sunday's MoUs bring BIDA's total such agreements with various organisations to 68.

Looking ahead, BIDA has set a target of delivering more than 150 services from 60 institutions through the OSS. The services will also be accessible through BanglaBiz, a unified platform being developed to integrate all Investment Promotion Agencies (IPAs) under one roof.

BIDA Director (OSS and Data Analytics) Sunil Kumar Adhikary delivered the welcome address, while Director General Jiban Krishna Saha Roy presented an overview of the OSS system.

Senior officials from all five banks attended the ceremony, along with representatives from Bangladesh Bank and the Financial Institutions Division.