Mobile financial services lose 12.84 lakh users in January despite surge in transactions
Transactions stood at Tk1,29,445 crore in January, cenbank data says
Despite a surge by Tk4,897 crore in transactions compared to December last year, the Mobile Financial Service (MFS) providers in the country witnessed a substantial fall in its users by more than 12 lakh in January.
Data from Bangladesh Bank shows that between 1 to 31 January, clients made transactions of a total of Tk1,29,445 crore through various MFS platforms, marking a 3.93% increase compared to Tk1,24,548 crore transactions in December.
However, in January, the number of MFS accounts across various platforms declined to 21,91,73,835, from 22,04,57,448 in December – marking a decrease by 12,83,613.
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As per rules, an account that has not made a single transaction for three consecutive months is considered an inactive account.
However, bankers attributed the fall to the increased vigilance of financial intelligence agencies ahead of the Eid festival, and prompt action against suspicious transactions.
The Bangladesh Bank launched the mobile banking programme in 2010. The next year, the journey of mobile financial services commenced in the private sector with the launch of Dutch-Bangla Bank's service Rocket.
Currently, there are 13 banks and companies offering mobile financial services in the country, under names such as bKash, Rocket, UCash, MyCash and SureCash.
In addition to personal transactions, MFS serves as a means to pay for electricity, gas, water, shopping bills, as well as salary disbursements and money transfers from overseas.
Also, mobile financial services enable customers to effortlessly make transactions between their bank accounts and mobile devices, further enhancing its growing popularity.
