Tuesday, 16 September, 2025
After years of delays in launching a fully functional interoperable payment system, Bangladesh Bank Governor Ahsan H. Mansur has pledged to make the initiative effective interoperablibity for accelerating the country’s cashless journey to boost economic growth.
Speaking at a “Stakeholder Discussion on Interoperable Payments in Bangladesh” in Gulshan on Monday, Mansur stressed that reducing cash dependency was essential to improving efficiency and transparency in the financial system.
“A cash-based economy is expensive for us. The banking sector loses about Tk 20,000 crore annually, while the government loses around Tk 1.5 lakh crore in revenue,” he said. “We must gradually reduce cash usage and move toward digital transactions.”
Bangladesh Bank first announced the launch of the MFS interoperability system on 27 October 2020, but the rollout was postponed due to last-minute technical issues. Providers were given until March 2021 to become operational. The system initially allowed transfers between mobile financial services such as bKash and Nagad, but has since expanded to enable transfers between MFS accounts and bank accounts through the National Payment Switch Bangladesh (NPSB).
Mansur is now confident that a new interoperable instant payment system will succeed where previous efforts faltered. This system will allow payments and fund transfers to be made instantly, anytime and anywhere, and will connect all financial institutions — banks, MFS providers, microcredit institutions, and digital banks — on a single platform.
The central bank is working with the Gates Foundation to implement the project, drawing on proven international models. “Previously, initiatives were taken, but they were unsuccessful. This time, we want to launch an effective system by leveraging global experience,” Mansur said.
He also highlighted the rising demand for cash, which has grown at about 10 percent annually for several years. Breaking this cycle, he said, was key to making economic activities more transparent.
Bangladesh Bank is simultaneously taking steps to boost digital payment adoption, including mandating QR code displays for all businesses to encourage shop-level digital transactions. The governor also announced that the requirement to submit income tax returns for credit card applications has been scrapped to promote card usage.
On financial inclusion, Mansur said around 64 percent of the population now has access to the financial sector, but a large rural segment remains underserved. He noted that technology-driven solutions such as agent banking and digital microcredit are expanding, though more innovation is needed to ensure sustainability.
In a move to strengthen participation, the central bank has mandated that half of all agent bankers must be women, citing the role of women in facilitating household-level financial engagement.
Mansur concluded by reaffirming the central bank’s commitment to building a robust digital ecosystem that will reduce cash usage, improve efficiency, and bring more citizens into the formal economy.
Across the globe, most countries are going cashless as it costs more. countries like Sweden are rapidly approaching a cash-free society, with cash usage dropping significantly, and many others have a very low reliance on cash for transactions. The shift towards cashless payments is a global trend, accelerated by the pandemic, but disparities remain, especially in low and middle-income countries.
The shift to cashless payments is happening at different speeds in different economies. High-income countries lead the implementation of fast payment systems, but significant gaps in access and usage of digital payments still exist in many low and middle-income economies.A complete move to cashless transactions would require eliminating cash altogether, which would be challenging for those without access to banking or digital services.
A cashless economy offers greater convenience, speed, security, and transparency for consumers, businesses, and governments, as it reduces the need to handle physical cash, minimizes theft and fraud through advanced digital security, and promotes financial inclusion by creating electronic transaction records. It also makes tracking financial activity easier, which helps reduce corruption, tax evasion, and the costs associated with managing physical currency.
The Bangladesh government has set a target to transform the country into going completely cashless, that is when payments will be made solely online, by 2031. The Cashless Bangladesh campaign aims to promote digital transactions and reduce cash dependency by enhancing financial inclusion and leveraging technology.
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After years of delays in launching a fully functional interoperable payment system, Bangladesh Bank Governor Ahsan H. Mansur has pledged to make the initiative effective interoperablibity for accelerating the country’s cashless journey to boost economic growth.
Speaking at a “Stakeholder Discussion on Interoperable Payments in Bangladesh” in Gulshan on Monday, Mansur stressed that reducing cash dependency was essential to improving efficiency and transparency in the financial system.
“A cash-based economy is expensive for us. The banking sector loses about Tk 20,000 crore annually, while the government loses around Tk 1.5 lakh crore in revenue,” he said. “We must gradually reduce cash usage and move toward digital transactions.”
Bangladesh Bank first announced the launch of the MFS interoperability system on 27 October 2020, but the rollout was postponed due to last-minute technical issues. Providers were given until March 2021 to become operational. The system initially allowed transfers between mobile financial services such as bKash and Nagad, but has since expanded to enable transfers between MFS accounts and bank accounts through the National Payment Switch Bangladesh (NPSB).
Mansur is now confident that a new interoperable instant payment system will succeed where previous efforts faltered. This system will allow payments and fund transfers to be made instantly, anytime and anywhere, and will connect all financial institutions — banks, MFS providers, microcredit institutions, and digital banks — on a single platform.
The central bank is working with the Gates Foundation to implement the project, drawing on proven international models. “Previously, initiatives were taken, but they were unsuccessful. This time, we want to launch an effective system by leveraging global experience,” Mansur said.
He also highlighted the rising demand for cash, which has grown at about 10 percent annually for several years. Breaking this cycle, he said, was key to making economic activities more transparent.
Bangladesh Bank is simultaneously taking steps to boost digital payment adoption, including mandating QR code displays for all businesses to encourage shop-level digital transactions. The governor also announced that the requirement to submit income tax returns for credit card applications has been scrapped to promote card usage.
On financial inclusion, Mansur said around 64 percent of the population now has access to the financial sector, but a large rural segment remains underserved. He noted that technology-driven solutions such as agent banking and digital microcredit are expanding, though more innovation is needed to ensure sustainability.
In a move to strengthen participation, the central bank has mandated that half of all agent bankers must be women, citing the role of women in facilitating household-level financial engagement.
Mansur concluded by reaffirming the central bank’s commitment to building a robust digital ecosystem that will reduce cash usage, improve efficiency, and bring more citizens into the formal economy.
Across the globe, most countries are going cashless as it costs more. countries like Sweden are rapidly approaching a cash-free society, with cash usage dropping significantly, and many others have a very low reliance on cash for transactions. The shift towards cashless payments is a global trend, accelerated by the pandemic, but disparities remain, especially in low and middle-income countries.
The shift to cashless payments is happening at different speeds in different economies. High-income countries lead the implementation of fast payment systems, but significant gaps in access and usage of digital payments still exist in many low and middle-income economies.A complete move to cashless transactions would require eliminating cash altogether, which would be challenging for those without access to banking or digital services.
A cashless economy offers greater convenience, speed, security, and transparency for consumers, businesses, and governments, as it reduces the need to handle physical cash, minimizes theft and fraud through advanced digital security, and promotes financial inclusion by creating electronic transaction records. It also makes tracking financial activity easier, which helps reduce corruption, tax evasion, and the costs associated with managing physical currency.
The Bangladesh government has set a target to transform the country into going completely cashless, that is when payments will be made solely online, by 2031. The Cashless Bangladesh campaign aims to promote digital transactions and reduce cash dependency by enhancing financial inclusion and leveraging technology.
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