bKash

bKash (Bengali: বিকাশ) is a mobile financial service in Bangladesh operating under the authority of Bangladesh Bank as a subsidiary of BRAC Bank Limited.[2] This mobile money system started as a joint venture between BRAC Bank Limited, Bangladesh and Money in Motion LLC, United States of America. bKash users can deposit money into their mobile accounts and then access a range of services, in particular transferring and receiving money domestically, making payments and can recharge prepaid mobiles easily. Also, They can pay mobile postpaid bills.

bKash
Type of businessPrivate
HeadquartersShadhinata Tower, 1, Bir Sreshtha Shaheed Jahangir Gate, Dhaka Cantonment, Dhaka 1206, Bangladesh
Key peopleKamal Quadir (CEO)
ServicesPayment system
ParentBrac Bank, Ant Financial, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Money in Motion LLC, International Finance Corporation [1]
URLbkash.com
Launched2011
Current statusOnline

In April 2013, International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, became an equity partner, in March 2014, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation became an investor in the company,[3] and in April 2018 Ant Financial, the operators of Alipay (a concern of Chinese giant Alibaba Group), became an equity partner.[4]

Fortune magazine ranked bKash among the top 50 companies in their "Change the World" list in 2017.[5] According to them, 22% of Bangladeshi adults use bKash with around 4.5 million daily transactions.[5]

History

bKash was launched in July 2011 in Bangladesh, with basic services: cash in, cash out and send money, keeping in mind that more than 70% of the population of Bangladesh lives in rural areas where access to formal banking services is difficult for people.[6][7]. More user-demanded services like airtime top-up, bills payment, Train-Movie Ticket purchase were introduced over its span. Now it has its own mobile application for ease of access, which has been recognized as the best innovation at Financial Innovation Category in Bangladesh Innovation Award 2018 for its simplified and useful features.[8]

Coverage

bKash can be accessed via several telephone networks in Bangladesh. bKash's agent network covers both urban and rural areas in much of Bangladesh.[9] As of 2018, bKash was the largest provider of mobile financial services (MFS) in Bangladesh.[10]

As of March 2019, there are 16 providers of mobile financial services (MFS),[11] but the two largest, bKash and Rocket, had a combined market share of over 99%.[12]As of May 2019, they have 3.1 crore active users.[13] In July 2019 total MFS transactions were in excess of Tk 37,477.58 crore.[11]

See also

References
  1. "bKash and Ant Financial in strategic partnership to promote financial inclusion for the unbanked in Bangladesh - bKash". www.bkash.com. Retrieved 26 February 2019.
  2. "Bangladesh's bKash revolution". The Banker.
  3. Al-Mahmood, Syed Zain (24 June 2015). "Mobile Banking Provides Lifeline for Bangladeshis". The Wall Street Journal.
  4. "Alibaba buys 20pc stake in bKash". The Daily Star. 27 April 2018.
  5. "Fortune lists bKash among 50 companies that are changing the world". Dhaka Tribune. 11 September 2017. Retrieved 20 September 2017.
  6. "BRAC Bank's bKash Launches Mobile Banking Services in Bangladesh". brac. Retrieved 29 July 2017.
  7. "BKASH: TIP OF THE ICEBERG". The Daily Star. 7 April 2017. Retrieved 29 July 2017.
  8. "BKash wins Best Financial Innovation award". Dhaka Tribune. 23 October 2018. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
  9. Administrator. "Information on Mobile Banking". rtn.bcc.net.bd.
  10. "Loan, insurance services thru' MFS likely within five years". The Financial Express. Dhaka: International Publications Limited. 14 July 2017. Retrieved 26 July 2017.
  11. "Mobile Financial Services (MFS) Data". www.bb.org.bd. Retrieved 24 March 2019.
  12. Islam, Muhammad Zahidul (26 July 2017). "Daily transactions reach Tk 1,000cr". The Daily Star. Retrieved 26 July 2017.
  13. Islam, Muhammad Zahidul (6 May 2019). "App-based wallet boosts transaction". The Daily Star. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
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