Grameenphone subscribers can now pay for 32 government services using their mobile balance.
Recently Grameenphone and Aspire to Innovate (a2i) joined hands to introduce a secure and efficient payment method on the go for multiple government services through direct operator billing (DOB).
DOB is an easy and efficient method that enables subscribers to pay for services such as digitally consumable ones and utility bills from their handsets using mobile balance.
To use this option, a customer needs to select Mobile Balance from the ekPay payment gateway on the prottoyon.gov.bd portal while paying for the desired service.
After providing the mobile number and OTP, the service fee will be deducted from the subscriber's mobile balance. To use the facility, a subscriber must first complete profile creation on the portal through NID verification.
Dewan Muhammad Humayun Kabir, a2i's project director (joint secretary) of the ICT Division, said: "Our unified mobile payment system, ekPay connects all banks and MFS providers to enable P2G (person to government) payments for hundreds of public services, including 23 utilities."
"Despite the meteoric rise of MFS and agent banking in the last decade, 18 percent of the adult population, especially in rural Bangladesh, is still unbanked. To promote inclusivity in P2G payments, we are introducing DOB with mobile operators in the government ecosystem."
"With this integration, we are ensuring that people from all walks of life have access to government services right at their fingertips through our nationwide network strength and coverage," said Solaiman Alam, CDO, Grameenphone.