Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)-The mobile banking services have become rapidly popular in Bangladesh as low income population use the easy payment system, officials said.
More than 25.25 million people have opened accounts so far to avail the mobile financial services (MFS) which is growing day by day, officials at Bangladesh Bank (BB) told the BBN.
“The mobile banking activities have become highly popular in Bangladesh. The growth of such transaction has increased rapidly,” a senior BB official told the BBN in Dhaka.
The central bank was planning to reform the rules and regulations for this platform to ensure the accountability and transparency in such types of transaction, he added.
The commercial banks of the country are providing MFS to their clients through 0.54 million agents across the country.
The average daily transaction now stands at BDT 3.50 billion.
Under the existing guidelines, the country’s bank-led model is now offering an alternative to conventional bank branch-based banking to un-banked population through appointed agents facilitated by the Mobile Phone Network Operators (MNOs) or solution providers.
The banks and its partners will have to comply with the existing Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Combating the Financing of Terrorism (CFT)-related laws, regulations and guidelines issued by the central bank from time to time, according to the guidelines.
Earlier on September 26 in 2011, the BB introduced fresh guidelines on MFS aiming to bring the poor and ‘un-banked’ people under banking network at an affordable cost.
BBN/ASI/AD-17Feb15-12:30pm (BST)