Nagad Islamic has scooped up the "Best Innovation in other Financial Institutions" award at the fifth Bangladesh Innovation Award gala 2023.

They received the honour for their "innovative approach and extraordinary success in introducing the country's first and only Shariah-compliant mobile financial service."

The award ceremony, presented by GPH Ispat in collaboration with Aspire to Innovate (a2i) and in association with The Daily Star, was held Saturday at a city hotel in Dhaka, mobile financial services provider Nagad said Monday.

ICT State Minister Zunaid Ahmed Palak was the chief guest at the event.

From Nagad, Sheikh Aminur Rahman, chief corporate affairs officer, Sadat Adnan Ahmad, chief marketing officer, Muhammad Solaiman, director of public affairs, Abu Sufian Mohammad Khaled, general manager of digital planning and GTM, and Ariful Alam, manager of corporate communications, received the award.

Nagad Islamic has come up with a suitable option for practising Muslims to manage their funds in an interest-free and Shariah-compliant manner, maintaining their religious values and principles, Mohammad Aminul Haque, executive director of Nagad and member of the Shariah Supervisory Committee of Nagad Islamic, said.

"We are happy that our initiative that offers people the Shariah-compliant payment solution has got recognition," he added. 

The award ceremony, which was preceded by the fourth edition of the Bangladesh Business Innovation Summit, honoured 49 innovations with 26 winners and 23 honourable mentions. 

The award programme was attended by more than 500 professionals and industry experts. 

This year, more than 300 nominations from more than 100 organisations were submitted for the award in 21 categories.