DHAKA, Bangladesh, March 24, 2023 /THETECHMUSK=TTM/ — Nagad, a leading mobile money service operator based in Bangladesh, has become a billion-dollar company only in three years of its inception, says Zunaid Ahmed Palak, state minister for ICT Division.
“Nagad has become a billion-dollar company based on its partnership with the Postal Department and its integration with ICT Division’s ‘Parichay’, while it took 10 years for bKash to achieve that feat,” commented the state minister while comparing the country’s two leading MFS carriers at the inauguration ceremony of “Meghna Pay”, an MFS of Meghna Bank, in a five-star hotel in Dhaka recently.
“Nagad has become a billion-dollar company based on its partnership with the Postal Department and its integration with ICT Division’s ‘Parichay’, while it took 10 years for bKash to achieve that feat”
Zunaid Ahmed Palak, state minister for ICT Division
Tanvir A Mishuk, founder and managing director of Nagad Limited, Ashequr Rahman, chairman of Meghna Bank Limited, Sohail RK Hussain, managing director and CEO of Meghna Bank Limited, were also present at the function.
Terming Nagad as the fastest-growing start-up fintech in the world, Zunaid Ahmed Palak said Bangladesh has now gained the status of becoming a champion in the global MFS industry.
“Nagad as a mobile financial service will stay beside Meghna Pay with all kinds of technological assistance.”
Tanvir A Mishuk, founder and managing director of Nagad Limited
Explaining it, he said, “We believe if we work together with Meghna Pay to break the monopoly in the [MFS] market, this will benefit both the market as well as people.”
“We want to build a smart Bangladesh by working shoulder to shoulder,” he added.
Nagad, as an MFS of Bangladesh Postal Department, embarked on its journey on 26 March in 2019. At the outset, it shook the entire financial industry by innovating electronic know-your-customer (e-KYC). In the e-KYC system, customers can open an MFS account using their smartphone in less than a minute just by taking a photo of their national identity card and a selfie.
Later, the state-owned MFS operator came up with an even easier way to open an MFS account just by dialing *167# on a feature phone. The ground-breaking innovations have brought an end to cumbersome paperwork, thus creating a buzz across the world.
Nagad’s success reflects its use of state-of-the-art technologies that allow the delivery of various services at minimal charges. In some cases, Nagad provides its customers with free of cost services.
Operating with a government partnership, Nagad’s registered customers now stand at 7.25 crore, with its daily transactions hitting around BDT 1,000 crore on average.
Nagad has also shown the way how government allowances, education stipends and other financial aids can be disbursed among real beneficiaries through a digital platform instantly and conveniently.
