Postal Department's Mobile Financial Service 'Nagad' organised “Workshop 2022“ with the objective of providing guidance to BPO officials in conducting operations of the Bangladesh Postal Department and Nagad. The training workshop was held on Monday in the auditorium of the Directorate of the Posts in the capital’s Agargaon. Mustafa Jabbar, Minister for Posts and Telecommunications, was present as the Chief Guest of the training workshop, while Md. Khalilur Rahman, Secretary of Posts and Telecommunications Division was present as a special guest, along with other senior officials from the Postal Department. Also read: Nagad Islamic brings zakat calculator Md. Siraz Uddin, Director-General of the Postal Department, presided over the workshop which was also attended by Md. Shafayet Alam, Executive Director of Nagad, Lt. Col Md. Kousar Soukat Ali (retd), Chief External Affairs Officer of Nagad and Md. Mahbub Alam, PPM, DIG (retd) among others, says a press release. Speaking as the chief guest on the occasion, Mustafa Jabbar said, “Nowadays, Nagad has taken the position of the postal department's money order. Nagad has gone a long way today, thanks to the hard work. I was surprised when Nagad first approached me with the concept of registering an account in a minute.” “Many organizations have tried to compete with bKash, but none have succeeded. However, Nagad has gone far more than 'bKash' by bringing innovations. Tanvir and Shafayet deserve credit for this,”he added. Read Healthcare payments: Nagad offers discounts of up to Tk2,350 Khalilur Rahman said, “Nagad conducts everyday transactions of Tk 750 crore. The consumer base has grown to six crores in a very short period of time.” Through the workshop, local BPO officials were informed about the journey and activities of Nagad from the beginning of the journey to the present, as well as detailed operations of each department and subdivision of the organization (sales, customer service, finance and accounting, innovation and technology, legal, and external affairs) and steps taken by Nagad so far to prevent fraud. During the workshop Md. Shafayet Alam, Executive Director of Nagad highlighted the various activities of 'Nagad' to the participants present and addressed various questions. Also read: Nagad wins 'Best Innovative Digital Financial Services Brand' award Besides, BPO officials shared their important views on the Nagad and Postal department’s current and future achievements during the workshop. Previously, training workshops were held in Chattogram, Sylhet, Khulna, Barishal, and Bogra for all top officials from the Bangladesh Postal Department's Eastern, Northern, and Southern divisions who operate across the country. Following this, the training workshop on Mobile Financial Services Nagad was organized in Dhaka today. As of now, about 400 officials, including top officials from the Postal Department and the Post Directorate, have received an overview of Nagad through these workshops which also covered Nagad's journey to success in attaining financial inclusion, and local and international recognitions. Read Eid: Nagad offers up to 35% cashback, discount on shopping

The mobile financial service of the Bangladesh Post Office, Nagad handed over BDT 3,31,94,877 to the authority for the fiscal year 2020-21 as its share. At a recent function at in the secretariat secretary of Posts and Telecommunications Md. Afzal Hossain has received a cheque mentioning the amount from Nagad Executive Director Md Shafayet Alam. Director-General of the Department of Posts Md. Siraz Uddin and other senior officials were also present. As per the agreement, the postal department is entitled to 51 percent of the total revenue generated from the services of Nagad, and the remaining 49 percent goes to Nagad Limited. Earlier, in the financial year of 2019-20, the postal department received Tk 1.12 crore from Nagad. Read Nagad is a service approved by PM: Secretary Afzal After receiving the cheque, Secretary of the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications Md. Afzal Hossain said the postal department and Third Wave Technologies Limited launched Nagad in 2017 under an agreement and reached in a better stage after overcoming various ups and downs.  Secretary Md. Afzal Hossain said, “Nagad has established a strong position among all the mobile financial services in the country. The customers and income of Nagad are increasing day by day. Hon’ble Prime Minister herself started the transaction of Nagad with Tk 10,000. Nagad is owned by the Department of Posts and Telecommunications. It is well-recognized. I believe that Nagad will play a huge role in serving the people and will contribute to building a cashless society.”  He said, “Currently we are in the second position. I believe Nagad will be able to move to the top position very soon and serve the country and the people.” Read No room for confusion over Nagad ownership: Postal Department Nagad Executive Director Md. Shafayet Alam said that from the very beginning, Nagad has been conducting all the activities as per the instructions of the postal department. The revenue received by the postal department in the just-concluded fiscal year was much higher than the previous year. He hopes that with the trust and love of the people, Nagad will be able to earn more revenues for the postal department in the coming days. In just two and a half years of its rollout as a service of the postal department, Nagad has revolutionized the country's mobile financial service market. As a result, the common people of the country can enjoy all the latest services, including the lowest cash-out charge. Anyone can open a Nagad account in a few seconds by dialing *167# on any mobile phone anytime, from anywhere. Moreover, Nagad is disbursing various assistance and allowances of the government among the beneficiaries in a very transparent manner, starting from the Eid gift of the Hon’ble Prime Minister. Even during the coronavirus pandemic and lockdowns, Nagad has played an important role in keeping the lives of ordinary people normal with uninterrupted service. Nagad has built a position in the market in a very short time on the back of the people’s interest and trust. Read Nagad to issue BDT 5 billion zero-coupon bond Nine countries, including Australia, Singapore and Japan, expressed their interest in introducing service in the model of Nagad during an event of the Asia Pacific Postal Union, an organization of the postal departments in various countries in the Asia-Pacific region.

Brushing aside the recent propaganda about Nagad’s partnership by a vested quarter, Posts and Telecommunications Division Secretary Afzal Hossain on Sunday said Nagad is a financial service approved by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. In a video statement, he also said it is known to all that the Posts and Telecommunications Division and Postal Department have partnership over the mobile financial service Nagad. Read: No room for confusion over Nagad ownership: Postal Department “It’s a well-known fact that the Honorable Prime Minister has approved this service and she herself started the transaction with BDT 10,000. So, the Prime Minister’s approval of the service is there.” Earlier, Posts and Telecommunications Minister Mustafa Jabbar and Postal Department’s Director General Md Siraj Uddin, also trashed the propaganda, in separate statements, and they said there is no room for confusion that Nagad is a service of the Postal Department. Echoing them, Afzal said, “The Postal Department and Third Wave Technologies tied up and started their journey in 2017 with the Nagad service. Nagad has gained a significant position now in 2021 by overcoming obstacles with the passage of time.” Stating that Nagad will serve extensively for the wellbeing of the country’s citizens and will contribute to creating a cashless society in the coming days, the Secretary said, “Nagad is an exceptional service among all other financial services of the country. Both the Nagad’s customer base and profit are increasing day by day." He also said, “Nagad will turn into a complete information-based technological service overcoming all the obstacles in the future. Now we’re at the second position, and I hope very soon we’ll become number one and serve the country and its people better.” Read:Nagad to issue BDT 5 billion zero-coupon bond On March 26, 2019, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the Nagad service officially. In the past two and a half years, Nagad has developed a customer base of 5.5 crore with a daily average transaction of more than BDT 700 crore. Nagad is playing a vital role in the disbursement of the government’s donation, stipend and financial assistance with transparency and with extraordinary innovation in account opening, he said.

The Postal Department on Thursday called for an end to the ongoing propaganda against Nagad in the media and social networking platforms following some recent issues. In a video message, Director-General of the Postal Department Siraz Uddin said Nagad is a mobile financial service run on the basis of a revenue-sharing model with the postal department that has financially included about 5.5 crore people of the country in just two and a half years. “The postal department signed an agreement with Third Wave Technologies Limited in 2017, and Nagad has been providing services on the basis of that deal. I want to say unequivocally that there’s no room for misleading people about the ownership of Nagad and the partnership with the postal department,” he said. Also read: Nagad’s interim licence gets renewal for another 3 months Siraz said the postal department and the Nagad authorities are now in the process of moving towards the ownership from the partnership as per the instructions of the Bangladesh Bank. “Based on the agreement between the two parties, the postal department is going to own 51 percent of the share and Nagad Limited will own 49 percent of the share. The matter is now awaiting approval under the state law. I hope no one will mislead people by providing fabricated information in this regard,” he said. The DG said Nagad is a new financial service provider of the century-old state postal department. “The unimaginable success of the company in just two and a half years has given rise to jealousy among many. So, many people are conspiring against Nagad. The probe report of the Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI) can be specifically mentioned here as evidence.” Siraz said Nagad has been able to break the monopoly of the MFS market. “That’s why many people are spreading rumours and misleading information against Nagad. We hope that everyone will refrain from such vile and ill-conceived attempts in the future. We’re always ready to foil any rumour and propaganda for the smooth progress of a state service. Everyone should remember that spreading any rumor and lie against state services is a serious state crime.” Also read: Regional financial intuitions' leaders praise Nagad's PPP model He said there has been some news in the media about the trust-cum-settlement account. “Nagad always opens new bank accounts with the approval of the postal department. I think it’s an ongoing process. There’s no reason for anyone to be confused by this letter.” Urging the customers to stand by Nagad instead of being distracted, the DG said some accounts have been temporarily suspended recently because of the faults of several e-commerce platforms, and this information has been communicated to the appropriate authorities and law enforcement agencies. “The process to reactivate the accounts after review has already begun. We sincerely apologise for the temporary inconvenience.” Nagad has successfully digitalized the disbursement of various government allowances. On average, BDT 700 crore is transacted through Nagad every day.

Posts and Telecommunications Minister Mustaf Jabbar has stressed the importance of taking tough action against the digital criminals involved in e-commerce frauds. Speaking at a webinar titled “E-commerce: Current Situation and Possibilities’’ on Saturday, he said digital criminals should be brought to book at the earliest to curb such crimes. The minister’s remark came as Nagad, the mobile financial service arm of Bangladesh Post Office, has taken a move recently to suspend some accounts temporarily for suspicious e-commerce transactions and forward the accounts information to law enforcement agencies. Read: Work on to build Bangabandhu Satellite-2: Mustafa Jabbar “The way criminals are using technology for digital crimes we should use superior technology to curb those crimes. To prevent digital crimes, we need digital measures as Nagad did,” the minister said. “If we cannot tackle the digital criminals, then they’ll grow manifold, and such crimes will increase exponentially,” he added. Head of Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU) Abu Hena Mohd Razee Hassan, additional deputy commissioner (ADC) of Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) Md Towhidul Islam, general secretary of the e-Commerce Association of Bangladesh (e-CAB) Muhammad Abdul Wahed Tomal and Nagad chief operating officer Ashish Chakraborty joined the webinar. Nagad chief public affairs officer Solaiman Shukhon moderated the event. Mustaf Jabbar said the government wants a digital society which is free from criminal activities. “Nagad is a service of the Postal Department. So, we can assure you from the government side that the law enforcement agencies will get the highest level of support from us in dealing with the digital criminals.” Under the money-laundering law, Abu Hena Mohammad Razee Hassan said, there is a provision of 4 to 12 years of prison sentence and impose fine up to double of the sum of the money laundered. Read: Regulator shouldn't allow monopoly in MFS: Mustafa Jabbar “Under this law, any organisation or individual is bound to provide relevant information like how much money is transferred to where and to whom. The organisations and institutions also have an obligation to provide any suspicious transaction voluntarily. After analysing such transaction patterns, we send those to law enforcement agencies for necessary action,” he said. Ashish Chakraborty said they can only share the list of the suspicious account details, but the rest of the work will have to be done by the law enforcement agencies. Under these suspicious accounts, he said, there could be some accounts which might not be involved in any criminal activities. “We’ve suspended those accounts too for now. The law enforcement agencies will decide the matter now.” “We’re hopeful of taking next steps in accordance with the BFIU and law enforcement agencies. We’re also observing those involved in such crimes and running propaganda against Nagad,” Ashish said. Towhidul Islam of CTTC said law enforcers can take action against the offenders of such crimes under the section 22 and 23 of the Digital Security Act and the Panel Act, though police were not made a party in the 2018 e-commerce guidelines. “Customers can lodge complaints with police stations and the criminals could face punishment of 2 to 7 years of jail sentence.” Read: Mustafa Jabbar emphasises digital transformation of education Abdul Wahed Tomal said it is the right time to take action against those e-commerce firms involved in fraudulent activities and the corrupt businessmen and their collaborators. “We should take a zero-tolerance stance against such criminals.” Recently, some suspicious transactions were observed on the platform of Bangladesh Post Office’s mobile financial wing Nagad. Nagad’s AI technology detected those transactions and handed over the information to different law enforcement agencies. At the same time those accounts were suspended temporarily. An official complaint was also lodged with the Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) in this connection.

The Posts and Telecommunications Division on Tuesday sent Director General of the Directorate of Posts Sudhangshu Shekhar Bhadra on forced leave as primary investigation found evidence of corruption against him.

Post, Telecommunications and Information Technology Minister Mustafa Jabbar on Tuesday inaugurated the release of a Tk 10 commemorative postage stamp marking Awami League’s 71st founding anniversary.

The transportation of mangoes through the postal department from Chapainawabganj to Dhaka free of cost began on Saturday amid coronavirus pandemic.   The government has taken an initiative to transport mangoes through postal services and under the initiative as the farmers to help growers and sellers to sell their produce easily during the coronavirus situation.   Posts and Telecommunications Division Minister Mustafa Jabbar inaugurated the ‘farmers-friendly postal service’ through a video conference held at the conference room of the deputy commissioner.   Chapainawabganj Postmaster Laxman Kumar said the covered van of postal department with five metric tonnes of mangoes of three traders, left for Dhaka on the first day of the service.   Deputy Commissioner AZM Nurul Haq, deputy-director of the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE), Chapainawabganj and other officers concerned were present at the inauguration ceremony.   Mustafa Jabbar said the Postal Department is being prepared fully for buying and selling products of marginal farmers.   “This initiative has been taken to ensure fair prices of goods produced by the marginal farmers,” he said adding that the money from the sale of their products will directly reach the farmers concerned without involvement of any middlemen.

The Postal Department of the country on Tuesday started using their vast transport network to deliver mango and other fruits produced by the farmers of Rajshahi and other areas to the doorsteps of the customers free of charge.