Business Report :
Transactions through mobile financial services (MFS) jumped to Tk120,596 crore in October this year due to expansion of services offered by operators.
The figure was Tk108,000 crore in September , according to Bangladesh Bank data.
October’s transactions comprised Tk38,021 crore as cash-in, Tk33,883 crore as cash-out, Tk32,694 crore as person-to-person transfers, Tk5,426 crore as merchant payments, Tk1,737 crore as government-to-person transfers, Tk2,887 crore as salary disbursements and Tk3,330 crore as utility bill payments.
Additionally, customers purchased talk-time worth Tk1,080 crore using MFS in October.
MFS data are compiled considering both Nagad and MFS through scheduled banks (Bkash, Rocket, Upay and Surecash, etc.).
The latest BB data indicated significant growth across all types of services in the month under review.
Operators’ introduction of new services has been instrumental in this growth, reflecting a shift in consumer behaviour towards digital transactions.
Furthermore, remittances and disbursements of government stipends, contributions and private-sector wages through MFS have contributed to the sector’s growth.
The central bank has raised the transaction limit through MFS in response to its widespread adoption.
Some mobile MFS operators offered discounts against shopping payments by using their service.
In the past one year, the number of MFS accounts increased by 30 million to 217.7 million in October this year from 187.5 million in October 2022.
MFS started its journey in 2011 with the launch of Rocket which is a Dutch-Bangla Bank’s mobile financial service.
At present, 13 MFS operators are providing MFS services with bKash, Nagad, ROCKET, UPAY, mCash and SureCash as major market players.