In the future, transactions in the country will be carried out digitally, not in paper currency. Therefore, it is important to introduce a system of inter-transaction between account holders of mobile financial service providers (MFS) like bKash, Rocket, and Nagad. This will make people's lives easier.
The panelists made these remarks on Saturday at a webinar titled 'Mobile Technology in Allowance Distribution: Ensuring Transparency and Accountability' organized by the Telecom Reporters Network, Bangladesh (TRNB), an organization of journalists covering the telecommunications sector.
At the event, Post and Telecommunications Minister Mustafa Jabbar said, "We do not want to see paper currency as a medium of transaction in the future. Our goal is to move towards a "cashless" society." He said that if Bangladesh Bank introduces inter-transactions between MFS service providers, this service will gain more acceptance.
It is worth noting that once the inter-transaction is launched, bKash account holders will be able to send money to Rocket and Nagad. On the other hand, MFS account holders like Rocket and Nagad will be able to send money to bKash. This inter-transaction was supposed to be launched in October last year. However, it has been delayed due to lack of preparation. However, work is underway to launch the system.
Mustafa Jabbar said that digital services have reached even those in the country who do not understand much about the digital system. This is a milestone. He said that the stipend money is going to people who have little knowledge about it. The task of convincing them could have been done by teachers. It was not possible due to the closure of educational institutions. However, it has been possible to overcome various challenges. The stipend money has been sent.
Social Welfare Minister Nuruzzaman Ahmed said, "The Prime Minister instructed us to ensure that we can deliver social security allowances to the poor without any problems. For that, we are adopting technology like mobile financial services so that people can receive their allowances sitting at home."
Almas Kabir, president of BASIS, an information technology sector organization, said that it is necessary to introduce an inter-transaction system to further accelerate MFS services.
Nagad Managing Director Tanvir A Mishuk said, "The overall goal of Digital Bangladesh will not be achieved if the financial sector is not digitized. It will be impossible to achieve the goal if the marginalized people are not brought under financial coverage." He said, "Because of MFS, there has been a big change in the management of government allowances. It has been possible to eliminate fake customers from the list."
TIM Nurul Kabir, former secretary general of the mobile operators' organization Amtob, said that in the future, all types of transactions will become digital. Then, more people can be brought under the umbrella of financial services.
The organization's general secretary Sameer Kumar Dey presented the keynote address at the event. He said that while earlier the government spent 22 taka on every 1,000 taka to distribute mobile phone allowance, it has now come down to 7 taka. Competition has played an important role in this regard.
TRNB President Rashed Mehedi presided over the program. Sheikh Rafiqul Islam, Director General of the Department of Social Services, and Md. Yusuf Ali, Director of the Primary Education Scholarship Project, among others, spoke at the event.
