The government has set a target for Nagad to reach the Tk 200 crore daily transaction mark by January next year. The country's fastest-growing digital financial carrier has achieved the target much ahead of the deadline, said a press release.

In January this year, Nagad crossed the milestone of daily transaction of Tk 100 crore.

Tanvir A Mishuk, managing director of the second-largest MFS carrier in the country, attributed the rapid advancement of Nagad to the introduction of state-of-the-art technological innovations and customer-friendly services.

He said: "We are working towards the goal of making all conventional services available on Nagad under the slogan of 'Everything will be through Nagad'.

"And for that, we are working every day in the hope of achieving the impossible."

Opening a Nagad account is just a dial away, and anyone can open the account by simply dialing *167# from their mobile phones. It was not possible anywhere else in the world, but Nagad has made it possible. There was a time when a lot had to be done to open an account.

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"In just one and a half years of inception, Nagad has reached the milestone of Tk 200 crore. It is a great pleasure for us," he said.

Mishuk said, "Sajeeb Wazed Joy, Information and Communication Technology Affair adviser to the Hon'ble Prime Minister said that Nagad should touch the Tk 200 crore daily transaction mark before January 2021, which we have already done.

"I would like to thank and express our gratitude to the Prime Minister for giving us the opportunity to serve the people. At the same time, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the Information and Communication Technology Affairs Adviser of the Prime Minister for his advice and guidance."

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Since its inception, Nagad has been playing an important role in the socio-economic development of the country and in the progress of the digital financial services sector.

In less than two years since the launch, 12,000 merchants have been added to Nagad network. "We are facilitating transactions on about 350 e-commerce platforms. Nagad is now the MFS operator of choice to make the payment for digital shopping," Mishuk said.

Paying the bills for all services, including electricity, water, gas and telephone can now be paid only through Nagad without any additional cost. Paying the bills of more than 200 broadband internet companies and purchasing mobile airtime and various packages from Nagad are now just a matter of seconds.

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Various financial activities of the Government of Bangladesh, especially the distribution of stipends for primary school students, various government grants and allowances will go through Nagad. As a result, the beneficiaries will receive the benefits as none can take any portion of their money. Apart from this, there is no additional risk to withdraw the money.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina provided financial assistance through digital channels to 50 lakh families who lost their jobs due to the lockdown. Of them, 17 lakh were distributed through Nagad. On the 90th birthday of Bangamata Fazilatunnisa Mujib, the Prime Minister also chose only Nagad to distribute allowances among distressed women.

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Nagad has put in place a system so that people can transfer money from VISA and MasterCard to their Nagad wallet while sitting at home during the pandemic. No other operator has come forward to digitalise the COVID-19 test fee payment process.

Only Nagad has launched this service. Now, everyone can pay the fees from their homes and at the booth. In addition, the salaries and allowances of more than 200,000 garment workers were distributed through Nagad during the pandemic.

Also read: Nagad joins forces with GP to drive digital financial inclusion