Bangladesh Bank (BB) Governor Abdur Rouf Talukder on Monday (March 11, 2024) said that around 200 mobile financial services (MFS) accounts are closing each day due to their Hundi connection. The central bank is checking rigorously trade transactions through LC and mobile financial services to prevent money laundering activities by any means, he said. The governor said this in the opening ceremony of the money laundering prevention workshop held at the head office of the Criminal Investigation (CID), Bangladesh Police in the capital on Monday. Rauf highlighted the steps taken to prevent money laundering since his joining the Central Bank as Governor. He said, “When I joined Bangladesh Bank in 2022, there was a severe crisis of foreign exchange in the country. At that time took the first step to stop over-invoicing.” Read more: Inflation, currency prime focus of BB’s next monetary policy Again, money laundering occurs despite keeping the profit of export products abroad. Initiatives are also taken to prevent that, he mentioned. The governor expressed the strong stand of the central bank on banning hundi. He said that expatriates may send Tk500 to their family in the country, then he gives it to someone he knows abroad and asks him to give it to his family in the country. That money remains abroad. In contrast, a representative in Bangladesh paid the amount. As earlier payment was made through home delivery, now it is done through MFS. Read more: Entry-level women's recruitment doubles in banking sector, but board representation still lagging Around 200 such accounts are being closed every day. Later some accounts were opened again with guarantees, permanent action was taken against some of them, he said. Highlighting the context of the campaign against money changers, the governor said that USD $45 to $50 million transactions are done through money changers in the country every year. About $270 billion in transitions are made in the banking channel. But despite a small fraction of transactions, when money changers hiked the dollar rate, many expatriates tried to hold on to remittances. This is how the dollar crisis was created, Rouf pointed out. “That is why the campaign against money changers is ongoing. Also, avoid dealing in cryptocurrencies. It is completely illegal in our country,” said the BB Governor. CID Chief and Additional IGP Muhammad Ali Mia in the chair, head of Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU) Md. Masud Biswas also spoke at the function. Read more: Bangladesh received $2.16 billion remittances in February, highest in fiscal

Nagad has turned into a unicorn startup only in four years of its launch – the fastest in Bangladesh to reach this impressive feat. In recognition of the achievement, Tanvir A Mishuk, founder and managing director of Nagad Limited, received the “Fastest to Unicorn Award” from Honourable Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at “Bangladesh Startup Summit 2023” in Hotel InterContinental Dhaka on Saturday. At the award giving ceremony eight organisations received awards in eight categories. Startup Bangladesh Limited, the flagship venture capital company of the Information and Communication Technology Division of the Government of Bangladesh, organised the two-day event that brought together startups, enterprises, venture capitalists, angel investors, regulators, think-tanks, and experts from various countries Inaugurated by Honourable Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on 26 March 2019 with a motto of changing lives, Nagad has reshaped the country’s MFS industry with one after another disruptive innovations and inspired confidence among a large number of people to embrace diversified products and services offered by it. Read more: Nagad became a billion-dollar company in just 3 years, 5 more Bangladeshi unicorns by 2025: Palak In this way, the state-owned mobile money carrier has established itself as the fastest unicorn startup in Bangladesh with a valuation of $1 billion, equivalent to BDT 10,000 crore, only in four years of its journey. This is for the first time in Bangladesh, such a grand event has been organised to honour startups. And Nagad, an arm of Bangladesh Postal Department, was the first startup to have got this recognition. State Minister for Information and Communication Technology Zunaid Ahmed Palak presented the keynote at the startup summit. He lauded Nagad’s contribution to building a smart economy in Bangladesh. Nagad has reached a milestone of 8 crore customers only in four years of its inception, with its daily transactions hitting BDT 1,300 crore on average. Read more: Binimoy says it can put an end to illegal digital transactions After receiving the acknowledgement memento, Managing Director of Nagad Limited Tanvir A Mishuk said, “This day will remain memorable for the Nagad family and me. What I’m now feeling cannot be expressed in words. Today we have got the recognition of the dream, with which we embarked on our journey, from the Honourable Prime Minister. We cannot ask for anything else.” Currently, Nagad disburses education stipends, social safety allowances, such as allowances for elderly people, widows and the disabled. It has so far given BDT 25,000 crore among beneficiaries. Md Shamsul Arefin, chairman, Board of Directors, Startup Bangladesh Limited and secretary, ICT Division, and Sami Ahmed, managing director and CEO of Startup Bangladesh Limited, also spoke at the startup summit. Read more: Daily transaction of MFS crosses Tk3200 crore: BB

State minister for ICT Division Zunaid Ahmed Palak has said Nagad, a leading mobile financial service provider in Bangladesh, has grown into a billion-dollar company within the first three years of its journey. The state minister made the remark during his inaugural speech as a special guest at the two-day ‘Smart Bangladesh Summit and Expo’ that began at the International Convention City Bashundhara on Friday. Junior Chamber International (JCI) Bangladesh organised the event. Also read: Establishing Digital Bank paramount to build smart Bangladesh: Nagad MD “At least five more unicorns [billion dollar start-ups] will emerge in Bangladesh by 2025. Honorable Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has given us a solid foundation where talented, courageous and problem-solving entrepreneurs can lead the world from Bangladesh in doing business,” Palak also said, adding that Nagad leads by example. Nagad, an MFS of Bangladesh Postal Department, embarked on its journey on March 26 in 2019. At the outset, it shook the entire financial industry by innovating electronic know-your-customer (e-KYC). In the e-KYC system, customers can open an MFS account using their smartphone in less than a minute just by taking a photo of their national identity card and a selfie. Later, the state-owned MFS operator came up with an even easier way to open an MFS account just by dialing *167# on a feature phone. The ground-breaking innovations have brought an end to cumbersome paperwork. Also read: Nagad MD proposes cashless transactions to save billions and build a smart Bangladesh Other MFS operators and financial institutions have also adopted the Nagad-innovated e-KYC system and thus reduced their operational costs to a great extent. Nagad’s success reflects its use of state-of-the-art technologies that allow the delivery of various services at minimal charges. In some cases, Nagad provides its customers with free of cost services. Nagad now has several plans lined up with a view to speeding up Bangladesh’s transition to a cashless society. Also read: Nagad welcomes govt’s move to increase safety net allocation In four years of its journey, Nagad’s registered customers now stand at 7.5 crore, with its daily transactions hitting more than Tk 1,200 crore on average. In 2020, the state-owned mobile money carrier scooped the ‘WITSA Global ICT Excellence Award-2019’ for its innovation of account opening just by dialing *167# on a feature phone. Also read: Nagad founder wins Kotler Iconic Achiever of the Year Award-2023

The Average daily transaction of mobile financial service (MFS) has crossed Tk3200 core and its volume shows a growing trend, said the latest report of Bangladesh Bank (BB). Analysing the data of 13 MFS in the country the BB report said that MFS gets popular in Bangladesh due to convenient transaction opportunities and payment facilities. The BB has released the updated statistics of MFS with information on 13 service providers. It has been seen that in the first month of this year January, customers transacted Tk1.05lakh crore. This figure is the second-highest recorded transaction on mobile so far. “There is no fee to open an account. Money can be sent everywhere instantly. At the same time, many new services have been added including payment of shopping bills, and loan facilities. These are contributing to an increase in the number of users,”  said Dr Salehuddin Ahmed, former governor of the BB. The central bank officials say inward remittances are also coming through MFS. As a result, people's interest and dependence on MFS are increasing. The volume of transactions with customers is also increasing because of multifold uses of this service. According to the BB, in January on average daily transactions through MFS was Tk3245 crore, excluding Nagad mobile finance operator as this MFS provider is not included under the BB financial report. If the Nagad transaction is added, then the MFS’ daily transaction volume would cross Tk4200 crore. The BB report revealed that 60 percent of the transaction was money deposit and windrowing while 40 percent was digital payment in January 2023. The number of customers is increasing day by day with transactions in mobile banking. Currently, 13 banks are providing mobile banking services under different names including Bkash, Rocket, U Cash, My Cash, and Sure Cash. At the end of January 2023, the number of customers registered in mobile banking stood at 19.41 crore. And the number of mobile banking agents has reached 15.69 lakh till January.  

Mobile financial services (MFS) provider has installed a large service booth at this year's Bishwa Ijtema, billed as the second largest congregation of Muslims after Hajj. Anyone can open Nagad Islamic accounts, and avail of cash-in, cash-out and other services at the booth. Islamic accounts of Nagad are fully managed under the supervision of a shariah supervisory committee. Read more: Nagad to feature in Philip Kotler's book 'Essentials of Modern Marketing' "Through Nagad Islamic MFS accounts, customers can easily manage their funds in an interest-free and Shariah-compliant manner, maintaining their religious values and principles," Nagad said Thursday. "Customers can easily convert their regular Nagad accounts into Islamic accounts. For that, they need to go to the My Nagad option in the Nagad app and click Account Type and then the running app will be changed to an Islamic account," it added. A customer will know that his account has been successfully converted to an Islamic account only when his or her Nagad app turns green. Read More: GMP issues traffic directives to reduce sufferings of Ijtema devotees The first phase of the three-day Biswa Ijtema is set to begin Friday (January 13, 2023) morning on the bank of the River Turag in Gazipur's Tongi.

The government of Bangladesh will distribute stipends to primary school students through mobile financial services (MFS) provider Nagad for 2022-23 fiscal. The Directorate of Primary Education (DPE) will sign an agreement with Nagad soon, according to a media statement. In the last fiscal year, the government paid stipends for education materials to over 1.3 crore primary school children through the MFS provider. Read more: Nagad upgrades system to offer better services The government will bring students at PTI Experimental Schools and Shishu Kallyan Trust-run primary schools under stipends in this fiscal year. For this, the DPE will make necessary reforms to primary education stipend distribution-related guidelines. Muhammad Zahidul Islam, head of public communications of Nagad, said: "We successfully disbursed education stipends and other social safety allowances in the 2021-2022 fiscal at a nominal charge." "We will continue our services in the current fiscal year as well if we are entrusted with the job." Read more: BURO partners with Nagad for easier savings, instalment payments Students are registered on Nagad's digital platform with information from their birth certificates and mobile phone numbers alongside the NIDs of their guardians. So, the students' guardians instantly receive the funds along with cash-out charges in their Nagad wallets once the stipend is disbursed.

Mobile financial services (MFS) provider Trust Axiata Pay (Tap) and Mutual Trust Bank (MTB) have brought a DPS facility for their customers to facilitate general and Shariah-based Islamic savings. Tap and MTB launched the service in Dhaka's Gulshan Wednesday (December 22, 2022). Tap customers will not have to stand in a queue or visit a bank to make payment for their DPS service. Anyone can open and operate an account through the tap app. Through tap, a certain amount of money every month would be deposited automatically into the designated bank account. For savings, both general and Islamic DPS can be opened. By accessing the tap app, anyone can avail of the DPS facility by opening an account and providing information about how much money they will pay per month and certain months. Read more: Towards a cashless society: MFS monthly transactions cross Tk 1.11 lakh crore The user will also have to provide information about which date of the month the money will be deducted from their tap account. Dewan Nazmul Hasan, chief executive officer of tap, and Syed Mahbubur Rahman, managing director and chief executive officer of MTB, were present at the launching ceremony. Nazmul said: "There is no substitute for savings services for future financial benefits. We are hopeful that, as a result of this joint venture of Mutual Trust Bank and tap, customers will be interested in saving." Mahbubur said: "There is no alternative to savings considering the financial security and planning for the future. Mutual Trust Bank and tap have taken the initiative of DPS to encourage customers to save." Read more: MTB launches co-branded credit cards for GP customers

Mobile financial services provider Nagad has come up with a cashback or discount of up to 22 percent on purchases of goods from around 6,000 outlets of 300 different brands to celebrate Bangladesh's Victory Day. Customers can enjoy this offer on the purchase of groceries, lifestyle products, furniture and accessories, electronics and food from restaurants from physical stores and online. The campaign "Utshober Khushi Nagad-e Beshi," launched on December 15, will continue till December 31. Read More: Nagad is a Digital Bangladesh success story: Mustafa Jabbar Nagad users can also avail of this cashback on purchases of electronics products and gadgets from brands such as Walton, Rangs, Rayans, Jamuna Electronics, Samsung, Xiaomi, Star Tech, Vision Electronics, and Transcom Digital. There is also a cashback of up to 22 percent on the purchase of lifestyle products from brands such as Bata, Apex, Bay Emporium, Lotto, Top Ten, Bishwo Rang, Gentle Park, Sailor, Artisan and SaRa Lifestyle. Besides, customers will also get cashback on Nagad payments for food items bought from specific restaurants, including KFC, BFC, Burger King, Tasty Treat, Madchef, Cheese, Pagla Baburchi, Pizza Hut and Star Kabab. Read More: Nagad offers up to Tk200 bonus on 'add money' from Mastercard There is also a Tk 100 cashback offer for Nagad users while making a minimum grocery purchase of Tk 1,500 from selected super shops, including Shwapno and Meena Bazar. Also, Nagad customers can enjoy up to 16 percent instant cashback on purchases from selected Bangladeshi pharmacies, such as Lazz Pharma, Tamanna Pharmacy and Arogga.

Mobile financial services (MFS) Nagad provider has teamed up with e-commerce platform Daraz to offer cashback of 16 percent instant cashback on bill payments through the online marketplace's app. On the occasion of the Daraz 12.12 Sale Campaign, Customers can get cashback of up to Tk300 – maximum Tk100 for each transaction – on bill payments through Nagad using Daraz App, said the MFS. Starting Monday, the offer will remain valid till December 31. Read: FY22: Nagad 3rd highest VAT-paying company in service category, says NBR A partnership deal was signed between Nagad and Daraz in Dhaka recently.  Nagad Managing Tanvir A Mishuk, Chief Business Officer Sheikh Aminur Rahman, Chief Sales Officer Shihab Uddin Chowdhury, Head of Public Communications Muhammad Zahidul Islam and Head of Payment Mohammad Mahbub Sobhan were present. Daraz Bangladesh Managing Director Syed Mostahidal Hoq, Chief Operating Officer Khondoker Tasfin Alam, Chief Corporate Affairs Officer AHM Hasinul Quddus, Chief Commercial Officer Sabbir Hossain, Director of Growth Marketing Mashrur Hasan Mim, and Director of Technology and Digital Payments and Strategy Monjuri Mallik also joined the ceremony. Read More: FY23: DPE to sign new deal with Nagad for stipend disbursement 

Equipped with cutting edge technology, the newly launched platform for digital financial transactions, Binimoy, can put an end to any illegal transaction, currently used frequently to rob people who rely on mobile financial services (MFS), a spokesperson of the platform has said. In reference to the recent arrest of three fraudsters by law enforcers in Bogura, the official, on condition of anonymity, said Binimoy authority was the first to identify the location and tipped off law enforcers to track these swindlers. Such malpractices are common in Bangladesh and some fraud groups are doing their transactions using MFS gateways, he said, requesting Binimoy users to get in contact with prior monetary service providing organizations in case they encounter any kind of issue during registration or transaction. Binimoy ensures clarity by providing uninterrupted and secure transactions between different payment system providers, at a cost-effective rate, added the official. Read: Interoperable digital transaction platform Binimoy to be inaugurated Sunday Days back, a team of Criminal Investigation Department (CID) arrested three people from Bogura while stealing money of general MFS users, and several media outlets reported the incident. According to CID, the frauds used the Islami Bank CellFin app to infiltrate Binimoy and managed to steal Tk96.74 lakh from bKash. However, the prompt action by Binimoy has not been taken positively by a group who charges a pretty high amount against providing certain services. Other competitors present in the market cannot tolerate a safety insured cost-effective rate and dynamic service's arrival, the official added. Attacking each other is common among the MFS providers in Bangladesh, both in real life and social media platforms, alleged the official. Launched weeks back, Binimoy, the first such platform, is a bridge among customers, businessmen, payment service providers, e-wallets, banks, monetary organizations, payment system operators, government and private institutions. Read: Binimoy: Interoperable Digital Transaction Platform could open a new horizon in money transfer People will be able to do all kinds of financial transactions securely, such as giving salary to workers, VAT / Tax, e-commerce transactions with clarity, by using Binimoy and this app is highly secured, because two factor authentication is mandatory to do each single transaction, according to a statement from Binimoy.