As per today’s world, mobile financial services are at the top of their business. It can be the effect of the pandemic. It is a rapidly growing business in Bangladesh right now. It is now engaged to all classes of people and playing a vital role in our day-to-day life.
As Bangladesh is a developing and overpopulated country, MFS has a huge chance and potentials to grow and go beyond expectations.
So, let us discuss the situation of Mobile Financial Services (MFS) in Bangladesh. Here it is.
Mobile Financial Services (MFS) in Bangladesh
According to the demand of time, MFS is on top of the business. During the pandemic session, people couldn’t go out easily; the demand is high.
In a post-pandemic situation, the demand may decrease; but the acceptance created during the pandemic wouldn’t go away just like that. As mentioned before, MFS has a lot of potentials here.
There are many MFS options in Bangladesh. Such as-
Nagad, Bkash, Rocket, SureCash, MyCash, mCash, tCash, etc.
The services you can get from MFS are following:
- Cash In/Out at Agent Point,
- ATM Cash Out,
- Balance Inquiry,
- P2P Fund Transfer,
- Airtime Transaction,
- Service Bill Payment,
- P2B Payment,
- B2P Fund Transfer,
- Consumer Merchant Payment,
- Inward International Remittance Disbursement,
- G2P Fund Transfer, Wallet Activation,
- MFS Wallet Fund Transfer,
- MFS Wallet Fund Bank Account Transfer,
- MFS Wallet to Bank Account Fund Transfer,
- MFS Wallet Fund Transfer, etc.
MFS in Bangladesh
According to a statistic done in 2019, 59 banks have 10,000+ branches all over the country. Still, it is not enough to cover all of our people, especially in the urban area. To that problem, mobile banking is a huge solution.
Dutch Bangla Bank Limited (DBBL), BRAC Bank Limited, and Trust Bank Limited- the three private banks that firstly launched MFS in Bangladesh. Among them, BRAC Bank LTD’s Bkash and DBBL’s Rocket is on the top of its business.
Although the primary usage of MFS is still limited in cash in/ cash-out transactions, we hope that soon; we can use its full support properly.
Focuses of MFS in Bangladesh
As we have mentioned before, Mobile Financial Service renders so many services to their customers. But in Bangladesh, we are using the ‘Send money’ and ‘Cash out’ options so vastly that they became part of our lives.
Almost every bank have MFS options under their umbrella. They focus on different things. For example, some focus on ‘mobile banking’ and others focus on ‘Money transfer.’
Besides, in a rural area, there are various small shops and agents whose livelihood depends on MFS. Additionally, money is not safe in your home or shop. You can save your money in your mobile account.
Although you need to be careful about cybercrime and online fraud, this is one of MFS’s disadvantages. No fraud will tell the victim to transfer money to his bank account but there are thousands of cases where the fraud told the victim to transfer money to his MFS accounts.
So, be careful while dealing with PINs and passwords. Do not give away your PINs and passwords to other people.
Regulation for MFS
The permission was gained in 2011, and the revised guideline was given in December, the same year. The guideline is called “Guidelines on Mobile Financial Services (MFS) for the Banks.”
Bangladesh central bank has permitted the issue and said that the banking system would be accessible by mobile networking, and the account will be called a mobile account. Unlike the standard bank account, there will be no chequing system.
Current Situation of MFS
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic situation, in 2020, the transaction has reached its peak. Right now, more than 1000 lac accounts are formed, and half of them are active. Thousands of agents are working under 15 Banks.
Bangladesh Post Office is also under the MFS flag. And everything is going very sorted so far. In the future, we hope, the MFS will flourish its business in Bangladesh beyond our expectations.
But the bottom line is- to ensure growth and prosperity in this sector, Bangladesh Government and authority should take essential steps and long-lasting measurements.
Conclusion
Bangladesh has a huge potential in making Mobile Finance Service one of the top businesses of Bangladesh. Mobile banking is the new solution of digital Bangladesh.
This Mobile Financial service ensures banks supply their customers with both electronic transfers and remittance services. Their primary aim and mission from mobile financial services are to reach out to the unbanked people of Bangladesh, especially in remote and urban areas.