Iqbal Hossain Shaon works at a multinational company in Dhaka. He has to go out of the capital frequently for official purposes.

He has lived in Mirpur near the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium for many years with his family. He is a familiar face in his neighbourhood as he used to play a lot of cricket when he was young.

Still, robbers broke into his flat five years ago, taking away ornaments and cash worth several lakh taka.

He had lodged a case with the local police station after the incident, but the police are yet to nab the criminals and retrieve anything.

Following advice from his friends and colleagues, Shaon booked a locker with a bank in exchange for an annual charge to store new ornaments his wife has since purchased as well as valuable documents.

"As I often to go out of the capital for official purposes, I should not have kept those gold ornaments and cash in my flat," he said.

Nobody stays in their rented flat when Shaon is in office or out of Dhaka, and his wife takes their daughter to school.

"The criminals used this period as an opportunity," Shaon said.

Masum Ahmed Sujon, an owner of a six-storey building in the capital, is involved in the garment accessories business.

"We used to live a joint family in Mirpur-11. One day when we left for our respective businesses, several miscreants burst into our house and held the rest of the family members at gunpoint and took away valuable ornaments and cash," he said.

This prompted Sujon and all his siblings to hire a bank locker to store business papers, land documents and valuable ornaments.

Locker facilities ensure the safety and security of people's valuable assets, including jewellery, ornaments, business papers and personal documents.

Experts say many people are also hesitant to keep liquid assets at home. So, using the facility, they could rest assured that their assets and documents are being taken care of.

In Bangladesh, almost all of the country's 63 public and private commercial banks offer locker services in exchange for an annual charge.

There are three types of boxes, and the annual charge depends on their size. The charges vary from bank to bank.

A bank account is mandatory to avail of locker service. To book a locker, one has to open a personal or joint account.

There is no need for a nominee in the case of a joint account as one automatically owns it in the absence of the other.

Brac Bank has been offering locker service since its inception in 2001.

"We provide the service to the customers who have a good relationship with the bank," said Sheikh Mohammad Ashfaque, executive vice-president and head of branches of the private commercial bank.

The locker service is available at 18 branches in Dhaka and other parts of the country. Each facility is composed of about 100 small, medium and large-sized boxes.

"Based on the size of the box, we impose an annual charge on the box holder," Ashfaque said.

The service charge ranges from Tk 4,500 to Tk 8,500. The annual fee for a small-sized box is Tk 4,500, Tk 6,500 for a medium-sized box and Tk 8,500 for a large box.

As banks don't require approval to operate the service, the central bank does not have the data on how many banks are running the service at the moment, says Md Sirajul Islam, executive director and spokesperson of the Bangladesh Bank.

He said state-owned banks, including Sonali, Janata, and Rupali, introduced locker services in Bangladesh.

"The demand for lockers is growing. The demand is usually high in residential areas," said Arup Haider, head of the retail banking at City Bank.

The capacity of locker facilities at the private commercial bank has doubled in the last five years.

"We will add more capacities in the coming days," he said.

"People have confidence in banks. So, they are increasingly keeping their valuables at banks," said Ashfaque.

Brac Bank plans to expand its locker facilities to meet the growing demand.

After an individual hires a locker, banks will hand over a key to the locker holder and keep another key in its possession.

A locker-holder can add one or more names who will use the locker in his absence. The clients can also strike off the names if and when they wish.

If the holder loses the key, he has to immediately inform the bank and file a general diary with the police station.

The locker facility at Brac Bank is available during banking hours, Ashfaque said.

Each branch of a bank has general insurance coverage, which gives added protection to the assets stored in a box.

For example, depending on the size of the box, a user gets Tk 1 lakh, Tk 2 lakh and Tk 3 lakh in compensation if the lockers face any theft and pilferage at City Bank.

The bank is offering locker facilities at 33 branches in Dhaka, Chattogram, Sylhet, Rajshahi and Khulna. It charges Tk 5,000 to Tk 9,000.

Wasek Billah Mahim, who lives in Khilgaon, says he decided to keep the valuables in a locker although he or his family has not faced any robbery or theft.

"We have done it as a precautionary measure."