mobile financial service - Dhaka Mirror

Nagad Ltd barred from opening trust-cum settlement account without approval

Admin — Tue, 07 Sep 2021 15:11:01 +0000

The Bangladesh Bank has asked banks not to open any trust-cum settlement account (TCSAs) under the name of Nagad Ltd. The central bank issued a letter to banks on September 2 asking them not to open such accounts in the name of Nagad Ltd without its prior approval and the Bangladesh Post Office (BPO). Nagad is the brand name of the BPO’s mobile financial service (MFS). Many MFS clients usually do not spend all of their money immediately after they funds are deposited in the accounts. The unused funds are collectively significant, which are deposited at TCSAs. Third Wave Technologies Ltd, which is the master agent and technological and logistic support provider to the BPO to operate the MFS, earlier opened TCSAs under its own name. But Third Wave has recently renamed as Nagad Ltd. A BB official said that Third Wave had recently wanted to change the name of the holder of TCSA in the name of Nagad Ltd and requested banks eventually. “Some banks wanted our directive whether they should change the name of holder of TCSAs. We asked them to refrain from doing so as Post office is yet to inform us. Post office should inform us,” he said. In March 2019, Nagad started as MFS of the BPO, and it has since been operated by Third Wave Technologies Ltd, which renamed itself as Nagad Ltd in February this year, allegedly without informing the BPO. Contacted, Muhammad Zahidul Islam, head of Public Relation of Nagad, said, changing the name of the company and opening TCSAs is an ongoing process. Such processes will be completed by maintaining regulatory requirements, he added.

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Nagad offers up to 30pc bonus in SWAP deals

Admin — Thu, 19 Aug 2021 16:37:59 +0000

Bangladesh Post Office mobile financial arm Nagad and re-commerce firm SWAP launched a campaign titled ‘Choice is Yours’ where Nagad users can avail 10 to 30 per cent bonus in any deal. Under the offer in SWAP, ‘Nagad Deal E Beshi Labh’, Nagad users can buy and sell used products like cell phone, laptop, motorbike, furniture, car and other items with the bonus offer. SWAP’s pick-up staff will collect the old product from the customer’s house in compliance with hygiene rules, said a press release on Thursday. The offer will continue till August 31, 2021. Customers will get a maximum bonus of 30 per cent, or up to Tk 30,000, if they transfer the bonus 30 working days after the sale of a product. If they take it after 15 working days, they will get a 20 percent bonus, or up to Tk 20,000. And if they take it immediately, they will get a 10 percent bonus, or up to Tk 10,000. SWAP chief executive officer Parvez Hossain believes that old and used goods are not trash but it could be usable to someone in need. ‘That is the motto of SWAP. Maybe a product someone used and now it has no value to his or her, but it always can be useful to someone else. Such exchange of goods also helps to reduce E-waste,’ he said. Sheikh Aminur Rahman, chief marketing officer of Nagad, said, ‘Nagad thinks that it is important to partner with any local enterprise because Nagad itself is a local company. Nagad will try to play a role as a medium so that both buyers and sellers benefit from the offer of SWAP because it is more profitable on Nagad.’
Customers can visit the link https://nagad.io/zcd to know more about the campaign, the release said.

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Transactions cross Tk 420cr

Admin — Sat, 04 Jul 2015 05:29:27 +0000

The value of the total number of daily transactions through mobile financial services (MFS) has crossed Tk 420 crore in May for the first time since the launch of the service in 2011. “After negative growth in April this good news. MFS is gaining popularity as people can send and receive money when they need it,” said Bangladesh Bank Executive Director Mahfuzur Rahman.Mobile financial transactions usually go up during festival, he added.
The value of the total number of daily transactions through mobile financial services (MFS) increased by 6.45 per cent to Tk 420 crore 5 lakh in May although it declined by 3.48 per cent in April to Tk 394 crore 58 lakh, according to the latest data of the Bangladesh Bank (BB).
In March, MFS transactions increased by 11.92 per cent to Tk 408 crore, according to the latest BB data, while the figure was Tk 365.28 crore in February.
The daily average transactions increased by 15.28 per cent to 2,963,611 in March against 2,566,300 in February. Keeping the upward trend in May, daily average transactions increased by 9.49 per cent to 3,180,405 from 2,904,744 in April.
During the prolonged political unrest in February and March, MFS witnessed a positive trend, though the number of agents and mobile wallets declined in March.
At that time, Mahfuzur Rahman, executive director of MFS of BB, had told The Independent that the growth rate had fallen because of the strong monitoring of mobile wallets during the political stalemate.
The number of mobile wallets started rising again in April, though the number declined in March. The number of agents increased by 1.1 per cent in April compared to that of March, according to BB data.
The active number of accounts also increased by 3.26 per cent.
BB launched mobile financial services in 2011 through a regulation. Any mobile phone user can make monetary transactions with the help of this service.

-With The Independent input

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Mobile Financial Service

Admin — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 13:00:42 +0000

BB asks banks to follow bank-led model
Bangladesh Bank has asked scheduled banks to follow the bank-led model of mobile financial service to avoid confusion over who is the principal provider of the service, said BB officials.
A central bank official told New Age on Thursday that the BB on Monday issued letters to the managing directors and chief executive officers of all banks, asking them not to sign any agreement with other companies violating the BB rules of the mobile financial service.
The BB asked the banks to sign deals with other companies in such a way that clients could easily recognise that the ownership of the service was retained by the banks.
The BB has recently received a number of requests from the banks that they want to form subsidiary companies to expand their mobile financial service, a BB official told New Age on Thursday.
‘So, the BB has warned the banks not to breach the central bank’s regulations in the mobile banking,’ he said.
The BB asked the banks that they must follow the regulations accurately in signing any agreement with other organisation or in forming any subsidiary company to give the mobile banking service, he said.
Another BB official said that the banks usually provided the mobile banking service through telecom companies like Grameenphone or Robi. The practice gives an impression that the telecom companies are the principal organisations behind the service, he said.
He said, ‘The BB has asked the banks to promote their own branding in the mobile financial service to avert such confusion.’
He said, ‘A good number of countries have introduced the mobile banking service under non-bank-led model and bank-led model but there is no scope to provide the service under the non-bank-led model in our country.’
Out of 47 banks which got mobile banking service licence from the BB, 23 banks introduced the service.
‘But, only three to four of them possess the capacity of giving the service,’ he said.
According to the BB guideline on the mobile financial services, providers and customers mainly two types of mobile financial services (bank-led and non-bank-led) are followed worldwide.
From legal and regulatory perspective, only the bank-led model will be allowed to operate in Bangladesh, the guideline said.
The bank-led model will offer an alternative to conventional branch-based banking to unbanked population through appointed agents facilitated by the mobile network operators and solution providers, it said.
Customer account, termed ‘mobile account’ will rest with the bank and will be accessible through customers’ mobile device. Mobile account will be a non-cheque limited purpose account, the guideline said.
BB executive director Dasgupta Asim Kumar told New Age on Thursday that the central bank had asked the banks to follow the bank-led model on mandatory basis.
The BB took the step so that the banks would give attention more before signing deals with other companies in this regard, he said.
Besides, the banks will have to bear all responsibilities if its partner companies perpetrate any anomaly while providing the mobile financial services to the clients.

-With New Age input

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BRAC Bank to touch millions through mobile financial service

Admin — Sun, 03 Jul 2011 08:39:55 +0000

BRAC Bank steps into 11th year
BRAC Bank to touch millions through mobile financial service
BRAC Bank, one of the leading private banks of the country, at a press conference disclosed that millions of banked and unbanked people of the country will get access to banking services through mobile phones from subsidiary of BRAC Bank, which will be open to users in a few days. BRAC Bank authority made the disclosure at a press conference organised on the occasion of its 10th anniversary in the in the city on Saturday, says a press release.
BKash, a joint-venture between BRAC Bank and US-based Money in Motion, is using a fully encrypted VISA technology platform for transactions over mobile phones.
`bKash will fundamentally change the way people now do transactions as in future all transactions can be done through mobile phones. Customers will not need to come to the bank, rather the bank will come to their places’, said Syed Mahbubur Rahman, managing director and CEO of BRAC Bank.
BRAC Bank launched its operation 10 years back with the objective of bringing unbanked mass people under formal banking coverage. The business model was simple: ‘mobilizing deposits from urban areas and disbursing it to rural areas’. bKash is a leap frog in that journey of financial inclusion for the ‘mass’ with state of art technology and security.
`Your mobile phone will become your wallet. Customers can avail financial services through any phone, even by the handset that cost the lowest. Our menu-driven system is very user-friendly so that anybody can use the service,” added the managing director of BRAC Bank at the press conference.
Country’s youngest bank already has set some records: it has acquired over 12 lac customers, bringing full banking services across not only SME, but all strata of the banking industry. Unique industry-initiatives like OMNIBUS, ELDORADO and public-private-partnerships witnessed BRAC Bank leading a tech-savvy platform for the industry to make financial solutions faster and more accessible to people.
`Being the youngest bank in Bangladesh, we have emerged as the largest SME bank serving about 3.65 lac entrepreneurs at grassroots level, an achievement that helped global recognition for this Bangladeshi Bank”, said Mamdudur Rashid, deputy managing director of the bank.
The bank believes in 3P philosophy –People, Planet and Profit – and has been active in Green Banking. It has already turned 22 of its SME Unit Offices solar-powered, and plans to turn the rest by 2012. To facilitate solar-based business initiatives in a focused manner BRAC Bank has established `enewable Energy Desk’ under guidelines of Bangladesh Bank.
Apart from Business, BRAC Bank has been active in CSR as well. As a latest initiative, the bank has signed up with BRAC to extend financial support to Libya-returnees, mentioned Zeeshan Kingshuk Huq, Head of Corporate Affairs to the Press.
Kash has already signed with a leading mobile operator and is in dialogue with others so that the entire mobile subscription base–which currently stands at around 7.5 crore–will be able to have individual digital wallets to avail necessary financial services.

-With The News Today input

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