Money can buy treatment; mobile money can buy time. And in medicine, time is survival.

When a hospital demands payment before action, “cash in hand” becomes a clinical variable. In that moment, a delayed transfer is not an inconvenience; it is risk.

I learned this truth in November 2023, in Dhaka. I was on my way to meet friends when I made an unplanned stop at the Popular Diagnostic Centre in Shantinagar. By chance, I met Dr Banerji, a renowned cardiac specialist and former chair of the Cardiology Department at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (PG Hospital). I mentioned chest pain the night before, almost casually—half hoping it was nothing. His response was immediate. He instructed his staff to take my blood and deliver the report without delay, then asked me to return after my engagement.

Near midnight I met him again. He did not soften his words. I needed hospital admission quickly, and he was already thinking in terms of surgery—an outcome that, seconds earlier, had not existed in my mind. Fear arrived in waves: first the diagnosis, then the brutal arithmetic of access. My wife’s face changed as she realised what I was already calculating. We did not have enough cash readily available. Our bank balance could not meet an emergency demand. At that hour, no relative could be reached in time. The city was awake, but help was not.

Within an hour, I was in the back seat of a private car heading towards Ibrahim Cardiac Hospital & Research Institute (“Bardem”). The roads moved; my thoughts did not. Each traffic light felt like a countdown. The question was no longer whether treatment was needed, but whether we could unlock it fast enough.

Then my phone rang. One call cut through the panic. It was my son, Dr Farhan Ishrak Ahmed, a physician in the NHS in London. “Don’t worry, Abbu,” he said. “I’ve sent ৳500,000 through bKash—right now—for your treatment.”

In that instant, technology did what paperwork and banking hours could not. The transfer did not merely move money; it removed the most dangerous delay—the gap between a clinician’s decision and a family’s ability to pay.

For many people, this is exactly what mobile money has become: a life-saving instrument for emergencies, a direct channel for remittances, and an alternative to the queues, complexity, and friction that so often define branch-based transactions.

A Revolution Born from Necessity

Mobile financial services (MFS) did not arrive in Bangladesh as a glamorous novelty. It arrived as a response to a harsh reality: millions of people had no access to banks, and the poor lived in a world where cash was both king and jailer. For them, poverty was not only a lack of income—it was a lack of access.

The poor did not merely need money; they needed a way to receive it, store it, send it, and use it without being forced to travel for miles or spend hours in queues.

The revolution began in Kenya in 2007 with M-Pesa, a simple mobile money service that turned a basic phone into a financial tool. In Bangladesh, mobile money truly began in 2011 with bKash, and the transformation was swift, silent, and profound. What began as a modest experiment soon became an indispensable lifeline.

The story of MFS in Bangladesh is not only about technology; it is about power—power redistributed from banks to households, from the urban elite to rural women, from middlemen to ordinary people. It is about a quiet restructuring of economic life, where money no longer moves only through institutions but through people.

The First Wave: A Bank in Every Hand

When Bangladesh Bank first authorised mobile financial services (MFS) in 2011, the concept was modest: simple person-to-person transfers. A farmer in a remote village could send money to his son in the city. A rickshaw puller could pay his landlord without leaving his work. A woman could receive her husband’s remittance without needing a male relative to accompany her to the bank.

The appeal of MFS surged further when it allowed users to access funds anytime, anywhere, and to pay school fees, utility bills, and other essentials from home. During the nationwide lockdown, when bank branches remained closed and visiting ATMs was risky, MFS became a lifeline. Families could buy food, medicine, and vital supplies with a few simple taps, turning a phone into a tool of survival and empowerment.

But what began as a narrow convenience quickly evolved into a national payments and services platform—a digital operating system for everyday life. MFS transformed the mobile phone into a wallet and the local shop into a bank branch. Through it, people could pay bills, buy essentials, top up airtime, and transfer funds with unprecedented ease.

By January 2025, Bangladesh boasted 239.3 million registered MFS accounts, a testament to how deeply the system had woven itself into daily life. Major platforms such as bKash, Nagad, Rocket, Upay, Islami Bank mCash, MyCash, and OK Wallet now form a vibrant, competitive ecosystem, collectively reshaping the country’s financial architecture.

A Wallet in the Phone, Hope in the Hand

Mobile money has become a new bridge to opportunity. It has made instant credit possible—something the poor once could not even imagine.

In a crisis, a timely loan is not debt; it is survival. Monwara Begum, a middle-aged housemaid, learned this in 2024 when her son was crushed by a bus. Rushing him to Mugda Hospital, she needed BDT 10,000 immediately. Her heart raced, but she did not wait. She applied for nano credit through her bKash app. Within moments, the money was in her account—and her fear began to ease.

Nano loans, delivered through mobile phones, are quietly reshaping Bangladesh. They are instant, collateral-free and paperless. With loans ranging from BDT 500 to BDT 50,000, and interest capped at 9%, they reach the unbanked, the underserved and the forgotten.

Just five years ago, this would have been unimaginable. Today, it is the new normal. The MFS revolution has brought credit to the doorstep of the poor—transforming lives not through charity, but through empowerment.

Masum, a young fish trader in Dhaka’s Malibagh Bazaar, is one of many whose livelihoods have been rescued by nano loans. He buys fresh fish from riverside suppliers and sells them in the retail market. One day, facing a severe cash shortage, he was about to return home empty-handed. Then he discovered nano loans through bKash. He borrowed BDT 5,000 in seconds. In an instant, his anxiety vanished. His business survived.

Since that day, nano loans have become the lifeline of his trade, enabling him to restock quickly and repay on time—turning a moment of crisis into a story of resilience. Like Masum, thousands of small traders, city micro-merchants and rural women entrepreneurs now view mobile nano loans as a lifeline for their businesses, their families and their very survival across the country.

“I used to wait, day after day, for my husband or a broker to bring money. Now my phone puts the power in my hands,” said Khodeja Begum, who runs a small garments shop.

In Chandpur, widow Saleha Akhter spoke with equal urgency. “When my child is sick, I don’t have to beg or wait. The money comes straight away. Poverty is still there, but helplessness is gone.”

Nano loans are not merely a financial product; they are an economic lifeline. They stabilise households, keep small businesses alive and turn survival into opportunity. In a country where poverty is often defined by access, mobile money has rewritten the rules.

Based on the most current data for the largest product alone, over BDT 50 billion in nano-type loans have been disbursed through the bKash platform by mid-2025, and that figure is likely higher by 2026. When combined with other MFS-linked digital loans (to the extent reported), cumulative disbursements of mobile nano and similar small digital loans in Bangladesh likely exceed BDT 50 billion.

Since 2021, bKash customers have borrowed over BDT 7 billion through the bKash app, with City Bank as the lender. Around 245,000 customers have used these loans, generating about 0.7 million transactions. The bKash–City Bank partnership alone disbursed BDT 23 billion to 950,000 users by mid-2025, with an average loan size of BDT 4,000.

Other providers include Dhaka Bank’s e-Rin, Prime Bank’s PrimeAgrim, Sonali Bank’s e-wallet loans of up to BDT 50,000, and services from Bank Asia and UCB. GSMA reports that total mobile-based digital loans in Bangladesh reached BDT 28 billion by December 2024, with nano loans forming a major part of this figure.

The default rate for bKash–City Bank nano loans is below 1%, and other banks report similarly high recovery rates, demonstrating strong repayment discipline.

Mobile financial services have not merely digitised money; they have democratised it. What was once a privilege of the banked minority is now a daily utility for the rural poor and informal workers—reshaping poverty into opportunity.

Remittances: The Heartbeat Turned Surge

Remittances have long been the heartbeat of Bangladesh’s economy. They have sustained rural livelihoods, supported education, and kept families afloat during crises. Yet traditional remittance channels were slow, expensive, and often inaccessible to those who needed them most. The cost of sending money through conventional banking channels was high, and the final stage—cash collection—could be time-consuming and uncertain.

Mobile money changed that.

For millions of rural Bangladeshis outside the banking system, mobile money has become the primary financial interface. It is used to receive remittances, transfer funds, pay bills, purchase essentials, buy airtime, and set aside small savings. Distance, documentation, and branch hours—once decisive barriers—have largely dissolved.

Ruma Akhter, a housewife from Uddomdi village in South Matlab, experienced this shift firsthand. When her child required emergency medical treatment, her husband—working in Saudi Arabia—attempted to send money through conventional banking channels. The transfer followed its usual course—slow, procedural, and distant. Ruma was required to travel to the nearest branch to collect the funds, enduring anxious hours and delayed treatment. For a mother, the waiting was the cruellest part.

Today, that experience is no longer inevitable. Remittances can now move at the speed of need. Funds sent from abroad through channels such as Western Union and BRAC Saajan are credited directly to mobile wallets, most commonly bKash. What once took days and journeys now takes minutes and a handset.

The impact extends beyond convenience. The World Bank estimated the average global cost of sending remittances at 6.84% in June 2019. Mobile money can reduce this cost to as low as 1.7% for a US$200 transfer, rising to around 3.9% once cash-out fees are included. For remittance-dependent households, this difference is not marginal—it is life-changing. The money saved can be spent on food, rent, school fees, and urgent medical care.

In June 2025 alone, MFS channels carried approximately Tk 18.65 billion in inward remittances. This figure is not merely a statistic—it is evidence of a transformation. Remittances have become faster, cheaper, and more reliable. The mobile-money revolution has turned the heartbeat of Bangladesh’s economy into a surge.

The most striking change is the rise of women as the main recipients. An estimated six out of ten remittance receivers are women, placing them at the centre of household finance and decision-making. For many families, remittances now cover daily needs and can account for 60% or more of income. Mobile money has made this flow faster, cheaper, and more reliable, turning remittances into a powerful engine of women’s empowerment and national progress.

Women, Work, and the New Economy

The ready availability of mobile money has also reshaped the garment and textile industries, where women form a large proportion of the workforce. MFS has enabled many workers to send money home in real time, with convenience and at low cost. To facilitate this, many factories now disburse salaries through mobile financial services.

This has helped to integrate low-income women into the formal financial system, giving them control over their earnings. The empowerment is not only economic but also social. Women can now participate more actively in household decision-making. They can plan, save, and invest in their children’s education and health. In many cases, they are now the primary financial decision-makers.

However, the gender gap remains significant. According to Bangladesh Bank data, approximately 43.5% of women have access to formal financial services, compared with 62.9% of men—indicating a gender gap of around 19 percentage points in overall financial inclusion. While mobile money has helped narrow the gap, the disparity persists.

Nevertheless, the presence of mobile money has created new opportunities for women to become economically active. It has enabled them to start small businesses, receive payments, and participate in the broader economy without needing to travel to distant banks or seek male permission. In many ways, mobile money has made the invisible visible—women’s economic contributions are now measurable and traceable.

The Rise of Agents: The New Financial Frontier

A crucial component of Bangladesh’s MFS revolution has been the emergence of a vast agent network. Hundreds of thousands of people now operate as mobile money agents, requiring modest capital and limited infrastructure. For unemployed youth such as Mostafa Molla of Uddomdi village under Matlab south Upzila, agency work has provided an entry point into income generation, local commerce, and financial intermediation.

Agents have become the physical backbone of the digital finance system. They are the new frontier of financial inclusion. In areas where branches are distant, queues are long, and paperwork is unforgiving, agents provide a human face to digital finance. They convert cash into e-money and e-money back into cash for households that still live primarily in cash.

This shift matters because it compresses distance and time—two of the most expensive costs faced by low-income users. MFS makes transfers possible after hours, between towns, and across family networks without travel or delay. It also begins to normalise digital behaviour: paying bills, topping up airtime, sending support to parents, and settling small debts without leaving home.

In many ways, the agent network has become the new infrastructure of Bangladesh’s financial system. It is a system built not on buildings, but on human relationships.

A Nation Rewired

The dawn of digital money did not arrive with a single innovation; it arrived through millions of small transactions that quietly rewired daily life.

By the mid-2000s, mobile phones had penetrated rural Bangladesh far faster than bank branches ever could. For the first time, Bangladesh’s informal economy became digitally visible. Connectivity arrived before capital, reversing the traditional sequence of financial development.

This created a bank-led but technology-enabled model, balancing innovation with financial stability. Under the proactive oversight of Bangladesh Bank, MFS evolved into a nationwide financial infrastructure. By 2025, 13 licensed operators were operating within an ecosystem supported by five mobile network providers, delivering near-universal coverage from the commercial core of the capital to the most remote villages and informal settlements.

The sector’s success is evident in the numbers. bKash, the country’s first tech unicorn, reported a profit of Tk 315.77 crore in 2024, a 67% year-on-year rise. This indicates that digital money in Bangladesh is no longer a pilot project or a convenience layered on top of cash. It is an industry with scale, momentum, and the ability to shape economic life.

Digital Banking and the Cash-Light Economy

MFS has not only changed the way people pay; it has changed the way banks operate. Nearly all private commercial banks have launched mobile apps for everyday banking. This widespread adoption has fuelled a sharp rise in digital transactions, creating a win-win situation for both customers and banks.

For example, City Bank’s Citytouch platform experienced a dramatic surge in users. In the first seven years, progress was slow. But the next four and a half years witnessed an extraordinary rise. The user base grew from 72,000 to 882,000, with a compound annual growth rate of 65.4%. The Covid-19 pandemic acted as a catalyst, pushing people towards digital services for daily needs.

BRAC Bank’s Astha app has seen similar success, surpassing 10 lakh users and now crossing 12 lakh. Customers conduct Tk 20,000 crore in transactions each month—nearly Tk 700 crore daily. The app has shifted banking from being a convenience to becoming central to everyday life. Today, 71% of BRAC Bank’s transactions take place through the Astha app. Tasks that once required hours—paying bills, applying for deposits, collecting bank statements, redeeming reward points, updating nominee details—can now be completed within minutes.

This shift is helping Bangladesh move toward a cash-light society. Astha now facilitates digital payments at every level of the economy—from micro-merchants using BanglaQR to large corporate transactions. Annual transactions through the app soared from Tk 12,000 crore in 2021 to more than Tk 134,000 crore in 2024.

Dutch-Bangla Bank’s NexusPay is another major driver of this shift. With nearly 70 lakh users, monthly transactions through NexusPay exceed Tk 21,000 crore. Managing Director Abul Kashem Md Shirin noted that mobile banking created a parallel, mobile-first financial ecosystem that reached people traditional banks could not.

In rural areas without branches, agent banking supported by apps or even simple USSD codes became the local “branch.” Farmers, day labourers, and small shop owners suddenly had access to services once limited to urban customers.

Empowering Millions: The MFS Revolution in Action

Since 2015, mobile financial services (MFS) have evolved from a simple convenience into an essential lifeline for millions across Bangladesh. Adoption has skyrocketed, reshaping the nation’s economic trajectory and driving financial inclusion on an unprecedented scale. Far from symbolic, research confirms that MFS delivers tangible benefits—reducing poverty, boosting economic growth, and empowering ordinary people to take control of their finances.

A landmark study by East West University, published in the International Journal of Business and Management in November 2025, highlights the transformative impact of MFS. The research shows that widespread adoption not only broadens financial inclusion but also strengthens local economies, particularly through remittances and person-to-person payments. Adoption patterns are influenced by demographic factors such as gender, age, income, and education, reflecting the nuanced reach of this digital revolution. Regression analysis further confirms a strong positive correlation between MFS uptake and GDP growth, establishing mobile finance as a true engine of Bangladesh’s development.

Challenges persist, however. Access gaps remain in rural areas, and gender disparities continue to shape usage patterns. The study recommends enhancing digital literacy and expanding MFS infrastructure so more people can participate actively in the economy.

Empirical evidence quantifies this revolution. A district-level analysis of bKash transactions revealed that each additional 1 billion Taka in mobile money activity corresponded to a reduction of up to 0.71 percentage points in district poverty rates between 2010 and 2016, demonstrating a measurable link between mobile finance and poverty alleviation.

The social impact is equally striking. Research published in Scientific Reports in 2025 shows that women, in particular, have embraced MFS, driven by its convenience and perceived usefulness. Mobile money is thus not merely a technological innovation—it is a social catalyst, bridging traditional gender gaps and enabling broader financial empowerment.

A New Era of Shopping: Rewired by MFS

In the bustling streets of Dhaka, the clatter of coins and the rustle of notes are slowly giving way to the quiet hum of smartphones. Bangladesh is experiencing a revolution—not of factories or power grids, but of money itself.

Mobile Financial Services (MFS) have turned every transaction into a tap, a scan, a seamless digital exchange. From the sprawling malls of the capital to the tiniest kiosks in distant villages, platforms like bKash, Nagad, Rocket, and Upay are reshaping how people shop, pay, and even think about money. For families, MFS is liberation. Groceries, school fees, utility bills—all handled in seconds, without the weight of cash or the fear of theft.

Shopkeepers, once weighed down by coins and notes, now receive instant payments, reducing mistakes and delays. By January 2025, therefore, 239.3 million MFS accounts were active, a staggering testament to how deeply mobile payments have penetrated daily life. During peak seasons like Eid, 40–60% of transactions at branded outlets go cashless, while small-value informal payments surge into the hundreds of millions, collectively exceeding Tk 1.5 lakh crore in months like August 2025.

But MFS is more than convenience; it is empowerment. Digital payments encourage budgeting, expense tracking, and loyalty engagement, while enabling small businesses to reach customers instantly, bypassing traditional banking hurdles. Across Bangladesh, wallets have moved into phones, cash is fading, and commerce has gone digital.

Every tap is a story of confidence, every scan a step toward inclusion. In homes and markets alike, MFS is not just a tool—it is a lifeline, a cultural shift, and a bold declaration that the future of spending has already arrived.

 

The Unfinished Revolution

Yet the sector’s success exposes its unfinished architecture. Rapid growth has not automatically produced a fully interoperable, frictionless ecosystem. Competition remains concentrated, innovation is uneven, and trust is continuously tested by fraud, outages, and the fragile reality of agent liquidity.

In 2025, Bangladesh’s MFS story was therefore both triumph and tension: a proven model that still had to mature into a truly seamless, safe, and competitive digital financial system.

The question remains: can mobile money truly lift Bangladesh’s poor and reach the last mile?

The Final Question

The mobile money revolution has transformed Bangladesh. It has turned a handset into a lifeline, a shop into a bank branch, and a remittance into a lifeline. It has empowered women, reduced costs, and expanded access. Yet poverty remains fragile, and the path has been turbulent. Regulatory battles, governance failures, and political interference from unregulated operators have tested the system.

After such a stormy journey, the crucial question remains: can mobile money truly lift Bangladesh’s poor and reach the last mile?

The answer is not yet certain. But one thing is undeniable: mobile financial services have already reshaped the nation’s economic life. They have created an infrastructure that can, if properly regulated and protected, reach the poorest and most remote households. The revolution is not complete—but it has already changed the rules of the game.

And for millions of Bangladeshis, that change is not abstract. It is real, it is immediate, and it is life-saving.

The Bottom Line

Mobile financial services are more than micro-loans or foreign aid. They are a multidimensional lifeline—supporting transactions, remittances, savings, emergency loans, and women’s economic participation. They are enabling youth entrepreneurship, stabilising livelihoods, and creating a new economic infrastructure based on mobile phones.

The MFS revolution has transformed Bangladesh, rewriting the rules of money, power, and opportunity. For millions of Bangladeshis, the MFS revolution is tangible, immediate, and life-saving. It has transformed a nation’s economic landscape, rewriting the rules of money, power, and opportunity—one phone at a time.

Tags: #MFS #Bangladesh #bKash # Rocket # Poverty # Shopping culture # Eid shopping# DBBL# Bangladesh Bank # Cashless journey# women empowerment # mobile money# unemployment in BD