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Households in Bangladesh with family members working abroad celebrate remittances as a lifeline with profound economic and social significance. They spend months or even years assembling the resources needed to send earners overseas and must wait for the first remittance to arrive. In communities that send migrants, such as Tangail, families gradually scrape together savings and loans to finance recruitment costs, travel, and documentation. 

One BURO member described how she liquidated a savings account she had built for more than 17 years to finance her son’s migration to Saudi Arabia. She chose savings rather than a loan because loan repayment begins immediately, while income from migration can take time to stabilize. 

Among BURO clients in Tangail, the decision to send someone abroad is often discussed as part of a broader household strategy. Migration offers the potential for higher income, but it also involves substantial uncertainty. The financial decision comes with an emotional cost. During fieldwork, we met many women whose husbands or sons could only return home once every two or even three years. Families are forced to navigate long periods of separation alongside the financial risks migration entails. 

Families must assemble significant funds before departure to cover recruitment fees, travel costs, and documentation. The World Bank’s Migration and Development Brief estimates that remittance inflows to Bangladesh totaled around USD 23 billion in 2024. Yet behind these national figures lie thousands of household decisions about whether migration is financially possible and how the risks will be managed. 

These decisions are rarely individual. In households, family members weigh risks and potential returns together. Savings frequently play a central role in these discussions, as households gradually accumulate funds that can support migration expenses or reduce reliance on borrowing. 

Field observations among BURO members in Tangail suggest that households rarely rely on a single financial source to fund migration. Instead, families assemble resources through a layered approach. Savings accumulated over many years often form the foundation. Long-term deposits allow households to gradually build capitals that can be mobilized when migration opportunities arise. These savings reduce the amount households need to borrow and provide a degree of financial flexibility during uncertain periods. 

Households then layer loans on top to cover the remaining costs. For example, one BURO member described taking a loan of BDT 200,000 (USD 1,630) to support her son’s migration abroad, which is an example of how borrowing often complements existing savings rather than replacing them. Migration costs are higher than household income, so families often commit resources well before departure, without certainty about when migration income will begin. 

How remittances reshape financial behavior 

The flow of remittances is rarely smooth or predictable. Migrants often need time to secure stable employment, and transfers may arrive irregularly based on working conditions and payment arrangements. During this early phase, households continue to rely on savings to manage uncertainty. 

Remittances also appear to shift financial behavior within some communities. In several BURO centers in Tangail, staff observed that households that receive regular remittances often rely less on loans and instead accumulate savings from these transfers. In one center, 13 of 16 households had family members working overseas, and women were saving remittance income through Deposit Pension Scheme (DPS) accounts.  

Field observations also showed how remittance income translated into tangible household investments over time. In these BURO centers, families used savings from remittances to purchase land, improve housing, invest in livestock, and finance vehicles, such as autorickshaws, which supported local income generation. 

In one household, regular remittances of around BDT 80,000–100,000 (USD 650-815) per month enabled repayment of a housing loan worth BDT 400,000 (USD 3,261) while the family continued to save through contractual savings accounts for children’s future education and security. Because many men work abroad, women often become the household’s financial managers. They receive remittances, decide how much to save, and allocate funds for education, assets, or emergencies. 

In some households, migration also becomes cyclical. Family members who migrate earlier help finance the departure of other family members to create repeat migration pathways within the same household. Cleaner guidance on investment options are required. 

The timing gap in migration finance 

Migration decisions expose households to multiple risks long before any income begins to flow. Families must rely on recruitment intermediaries whose costs and reliability are often uncertain, commit to savings or loans without guarantees about employment conditions, and prepare for the possibility that wages may be delayed or lower than expected after arrival. In some cases, migrants discover that jobs differ from what was promised or that living expenses abroad reduce the amount they can send home. During this period, households need to repay migration-related loans even though remittance income has not yet begun. 

At this stage, wrong decisions can have significant consequences. A Business Standard report shows that workers who travel under the apparently “free visa” arrangements lost an estimated BDT 30,000 crore (USD 25 million) in 2022 alone due to inflated recruitment costs and fraudulent intermediary practices. Migration monitoring by Andy Hall has also documented cases in which Bangladeshi workers paid large recruitment fees, only to arrive overseas and find that promised jobs did not exist or wages were withheld for months. As a result, families at home struggle to repay migration-related loans without remittance income. 

This creates a timing gap. Financial systems tend to engage once remittances begin to arrive, which focuses on transfers and mobilizing savings. These services are valuable, but households need support when they prepare for migration and manage the risks that make migration possible in the first place.  

This gap points to an opportunity to rethink how those services support migration.  

Financial risks are the highest before departure. So, households can benefit from tools that combine savings, financing, and information. Structured savings products could help families gradually accumulate migration funds, while migration-linked loans could bridge financing gaps through repayment structures aligned with migration timelines. For example, a combination of savings accumulation with short grace periods or phased repayment schedules can reduce financial strain on households before remittance income begins. 

Once remittances begin, financial services can shift to help households manage these flows effectively. Flexible savings tools and advisory services can help families convert remittance income into long-term financial resilience and productive investments.  

Current efforts to support migrant households 

Moreover, BURO has initiated the “Remittance Management for Socioeconomic Stability of Migrant Families” initiative under the Safal program, supported by the UNCDF and the Swiss Embassy. This initiative is being implemented in selected branches in Tangail and Munshiganj. It strengthens how migrant households plan, manage, and use remittance income effectively and represents an important step toward more lifecycle-oriented engagement with migrant families. 

While these efforts represent important progress, they also highlight the opportunity to expand structured financial support across the migration journey.  

Designing for the realities households face 

Households will continue to pursue migration with or without formal financial support. For many families, it represents a rare pathway to higher income and improved opportunities. The challenge is therefore not whether migration occurs, but how to reduce the risks surrounding it. Better financial preparation can help households avoid excessive debt, reduce exposure to fraudulent intermediaries, and manage the uncertainty that often accompanies the early stages of migration. 

Migration is more than a story of labor or remittance. It is also a financial journey. Financial systems that engage before households take risks can help them prepare better and convert remittances into a secure pathway toward resilience and opportunity. 

We heard variations of this phrase repeatedly from BURO members across Tangail. Here, households rely on loans to build businesses, finance migration, and make large investments. Yet, savings occupy a different space in their everyday financial lives. Savings accumulate steadily without pressure and offer reassurance when income is uneven. It provides a sense of control over money that might otherwise be spent or pulled into daily demands. Over time, savings function less as a way to accumulate money and more as a path to preserve room to decide. 

Savings play a distinct role for households once incomes stabilize and life becomes more complex. It funds aspirations, absorbs shocks, and creates flexibility alongside repayment commitments. Savings allow households to accumulate resources without immediate obligation, while debt introduces timelines and expectations that can narrow that room to respond. For many women, savings also serve as an additional layer of security. It provides a quiet source of reassurance that they can rely on when income is uncertain or when support from others is limited.  

During a recent field visit, we met a customer with a brilliant savings concept, and the practice came to her because she understood the importance of savings. When we talked to Shirin, we saw connections among how spouses understand finances, how they manage funds, and how gender shapes household priorities around savings.  

The people explain why they save across BURO branches in Tangail. They mention education, land, housing, and migration costs as reasons to save. Yet, most conversations return to daughters’ futures. 

Savings build slowly for school fees, marriage expenses, exam costs, or the possibility of sending a son abroad. In many households, remittances sent by migrant family members working abroad are deposited directly into savings or long-term accounts. Families set them aside for education, daughters’ futures, or other major family priorities. The intention is often clear but not always fixed, which reflects the uncertain and evolving needs of households.  

Members save for specific goals and for security and control. These participants spoke about earlier experiences with organizations that disappeared with members’ funds, and about how difficult it is to keep cash safe at home. Money held within the household is easily spent, requested, or redirected to immediate needs and wants. When members place money elsewhere and know they can withdraw it when required, it creates confidence and introduces some friction to reduce impulsive spending. 

When households move money out of the home environment, they reduce daily leakage and the small pressures that accumulate around visible cash. This practice helps households protect their funds for future priorities. Digital channels, such as bKash and Nagad, have made it easier for households to receive remittances and move funds quickly. Yet, members consistently described BURO savings accounts as the place where they set aside and protected money intentionally for long-term priorities. 

The confidence members placed in BURO savings became visible during the COVID-19 period. Members recalled how they withdrew savings when incomes stopped or expenses rose unexpectedly. This experience reinforced their trust that BURO would keep the savings accessible when they truly needed the funds.  

Earlier client feedback from BURO customers also emphasizes withdrawal access. Insights from the BURO Lean Data Deep Dive conducted in May 2019 with 60 Decibels highlight that the ability to withdraw savings at any time builds trust in the institution. This report notes that BURO’s net promoter score of 82 is excellent and well above the Lean Data global average of 42 for microfinance institutions (MFIs). Similar patterns have been observed in other low-income settings. When households have access to savings they can easily withdraw from, they tend to save more and rely less on informal storage. This experience has strengthened the savings behavior, which confirms that money stored in the system can still be accessed in moments of need. 

The branch data reflects qualitative insights. A review of long-term records from the same branches shows that savings balances increased steadily after the COVID-19 period, even as loan recovery remained strong. This data does not explain behavior on its own, but it supports what members describe. Reliable access to savings appears to have strengthened saving behavior, particularly after a challenging period, which reminded people to set aside money for emergencies. 

Loans continue to support business expansion, migration, and asset purchase, but repayment schedules bring their own pressures. Households must pay installments irrespective of a steady income, and that worry can weigh on them even when businesses do well. Savings change how that pressure is experienced. It provides a buffer when earnings dip and allows households to meet obligations without panic, which eases the sense of constant exposure that repayment creates. 

In practice, savings and credit work together. Loans create opportunity, while savings protect stability. Together, they allow families to move forward and retain a margin of safety. In most households, women manage this balance quietly, as they coordinate how different income sources are saved and used over time. 

Women manage savings accounts, set aside remittances, and maintain long-term deposits for children across the branches. Over time, these habits become part of the household routine and shape household financial decisions.  

Shirin’s experience reflects this pattern. Her husband works in Saudi Arabia and covers most daily expenses, while Shirin uses her own earnings from tailoring, around BDT 12,000 (~USD 97) per month, to build savings across several institutions. Each month, she deposits nearly BDT 10,000 (~USD 81) across BURO and other organizations.  

When asked why she saves in several places instead of one, she explained, “You never know when you may need which support or which offer may be helpful.” Her strategy shows how savings help households maintain flexibility and security across different sources of support. 

An evidence synthesis by Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA) finds that women’s access to savings groups is linked to stronger household financial decision-making and improved resilience to economic shocks. 

Long-term deposit schemes help structure this process by building lump sums over time. Yet, the final use is not always fixed. Some households begin saving with a broad intention that includes education, marriage, migration, or investment, but decide later how the funds will be used. Flexibility matters as plans evolve and income remains uncertain. The value of these deposits often lies as much in preserved options as in a single predefined goal. This preference for adaptable savings reflects the findings from Women’s World Banking’s Mindful Savings report. The report highlights that many women value flexibility and control in savings products more than rigid goal-locking mechanisms. 

In Tangail, savings do not just fund specific goals. They give families the space to respond when something goes wrong, to rely less on debt during difficult moments, and to decide later how to use money. Savings demand is driven by planned expenditures, broader need for protection, autonomy, and the ability to adapt in changing circumstances. 

The question shifts from how to save to what comes next as balances grow. The next blog in the series explores how women in Tangail make sophisticated investments.  

Kohinur Begum was only 15 when a local gang member abducted her from a neighborhood near Dhaka. They forced her into a marriage with an abusive husband with ongoing mental health issues.  

“I fought for a long time, and then I just gave up and accepted my life,” she says through tears. She stayed for her three children and her husband, who is now too ill to harm her. 

Kohinur became one of its early members when the Silimpur branch of BURO Bangladesh was established in Tangail. She found an unexpected ally in the staff at BURO Bangladesh in her search for stability and independence. She worked tirelessly, as she tailored clothes, sold goods, and completed small household tasks to build her savings over time.  

She shares, “At BURO, I do not need to explain my situation, and they do not ask me questions or shame me.” 

Kohinur shares her story from the newly renovated roof of her home in Tangail, a sign of the stability she gained through BURO. For her, a savings account is a safe place to store money, built at a time when the world failed to protect her. In a community where past experiences of financial loss and uncertainty shape trust, BURO earned her confidence. This institution protected her dignity when she was most vulnerable. 

Like many women in the community, Kohinur learned the importance of savings early in life. She watched her mother set aside money from household income for the family. Later, when she raised children without reliable support, savings became her primary way to protect their future. 

In Tangail, members describe trust in practical terms. It stems from interest rates, promotional offers, and the assurance that their money will be there when they need it. For many households living with uncertain incomes, trust comes from repeated experience with an institution that behaves predictably and stands by its members during difficult periods. Members often describe the most important feature as confidence, rather than a specific savings product. The money remains accessible, safe, and managed under clear, respectful rules. 

Members repeatedly identified three features that shaped this confidence during field discussions:  

• Instant visibility and access: Members trust institutions when they can withdraw up to BDT 5,000 (~USD 40) immediately during a center meeting with only a signature. 

• Predictable reliability: Members consistently report that they have not faced difficulties accessing their savings from BURO branches or centers. 

“I never saw anyone lose money or face problems in getting their money back,” says one woman member from the Atia Branch, whose house has been a center meeting point since 1990. 

• Dignity in interaction: Members often mention respectful staff behavior as more important than interest rates. Kohinur values that BURO staff treat her with respect, which allows her to save without fear of judgment or pressure. This sense of dignity and reassurance encourages members to save regularly and rely on the institution during difficult periods.  

In many financial models, locked-in capital is seen as a way to ensure stability. However, in the precarious economy of rural Bangladesh, restrictions create uncertainty, which leads to fear. Research shows that entrepreneurs benefit more from flexible financial products that allows members to withdraw their savings even while they have an active loan. 

Most other providers block access to savings or net them off against missed installments without the member’s permission. As one member explained during the discussion, her confidence in BURO comes from the assurance that her savings remain under her control, even when she has an active loan. This flexibility is especially important in households where income is uncertain and unexpected expenses are common. 

BURO ensures that members do not lose access to their deposits during difficult periods, as it allows them to withdraw their savings when needed. When people know they can withdraw money when necessary, they feel more comfortable saving larger amounts. Members often described this flexibility as a reason why they continued to keep their savings with BURO for prolonged periods. 

Cognitively, we evaluate trust through contrast. Tangail’s savers carry the psychological weight of past losses, shaped by experiences in which local nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) or syndicates disappeared with their life’s savings. 

Conversations during field visits often reflected memories of savings lost through informal groups or organizations. After such experiences, households became more cautious about where they placed their savings. They preferred institutions with a visible presence, long operating history, and clear rules around withdrawals. 

Manoti, a participant, shares that she lost BDT 500,000 (~USD 4,000), representing a lifetime of effort. She moved her savings from a reputable bank to an organization that later disappeared. Such experiences shape how many members think about financial safety. Several participants linked this confidence to BURO’s long-term presence in the community and its continuous relationship with branch-level staff.    

Trust often develops gradually through repeated experience. During field discussions, several members described how their confidence in BURO strengthened as they could withdraw savings when needed and observed that the institution remained accessible during difficult periods. 

The COVID-19 pandemic revealed the extent to which members trusted BURO. Despite restrictions on movement and temporary branch closures in many places, BURO continued to allow members to withdraw their savings. In the early weeks of the pandemic, members withdrew around BDT 30 million (~USD 0.24 million) to test whether their savings would remain accessible. When BURO honored these withdrawals without restriction, members grew more confident. Some households later shifted additional savings to BURO as a reliable place for their money. 

For members, BURO’s reliability creates a strong sense of security. Several long-term members described how it gradually came to be known locally as “BURO Bank.” They valued the ability to deposit and withdraw money through simple and reliable processes. 

Members often linked this confidence to clear institutional rules and the consistent support of local field staff, who maintained regular contact with households over many years. As another member, Fulbanu Begum notes, “When income from farming is uncertain, my savings give me confidence.”  

The experience of BURO’s Tangail branches suggests that savings deepened through product design and through the way institutions manage everyday access to savings. Reliable access to liquidity is an operational detail that shapes where members choose to keep their money over time. 

Institutions can better understand this relationship through tracking indicators that reflect how members experience access to their savings in practice. These indicators include: 

• Withdrawal friction: How long does a member take to withdraw a small amount, such as BDT 5,000 (~USD 40), during a regular center meeting? 

• Early withdrawal flexibility: How often do staff discourage members from an early Deposit Pension Scheme (DPS) exit despite urgent household needs? 

• Rule consistency: Do members across different branches report the same understanding of savings access and loan–savings linkages? 

The experiences from Tangail suggest that predictable access to savings and consistent rules encourage members to deepen their relationship with the institution over time. Yet, for members, such as Kohinur, trust is much more than an institutional asset. It is the confidence that her money will remain safe, accessible, and respected when she needs it most. This is why trust becomes the product: It gives members the courage to save, continue savings, and plan beyond immediate survival.    

The next blog in this series builds on this idea by exploring when saving begins to feel like freedom. It shows how women in Tangail use savings to build security, support their daughters’ futures, and gain financial confidence over time.