The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has declared mobile financial services (MFS) provider Nagad as the third highest VAT-paying company in 2021-2022 fiscal in the service category.

Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal will hand over the "Highest VAT Payers Award" to the MFS at a ceremony organised by the NBR at a Dhaka hotel Saturday, marking VAT Week (December 9 to 15).

The NBR will honour the top nine VAT-paying companies at the national level for the last fiscal year in three categories – production, service and business.

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Industries Minister Nurul Majid Mahmud Humayun and Md Jashim Uddin, president of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industries, will be present at the event as special guests. Abu Hena Md Rahmatul Muneem, senior secretary to Internal Resources Division and NBR chairman, will preside over the programme.

"We have gained customers at a faster pace because of our innovations in providing services, leading to a gradual rise in transactions. Since our launching, we have onboarded more than 6.5 crore customers," the MFS said in a media statement.

"From the very beginning, we have ensured digitisation in the country's financial sector through ground-breaking innovations like the introduction of the digital Know Your Customer (KYC) to open an MFS account without requiring any paperwork," it added.

Tanvir A Mishuk, founder and managing director of Nagad, said: "Simplification of account opening has not only accelerated financial inclusion but has also played a role in the country's shift towards a cashless society."

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The MFS provider is now working to set up the country's first digital bank to take cashless transactions to the next level, he added.