Economic Reporter :
Stressing the need for introducing interoperability of digital financial services (DFS), state minister for finance and planning MA Mannan said it would increase client benefits and facilitate competition based on product innovation and diversification.
DFS will also boost the growth of digital finance ecosystem in the country, he added.
“It will accelerate digital financial inclusion and complement Bangladesh government’s actions for digital transformation of the key sectors of the economy to achieve the goals of ‘Vision 2021’ agenda,” the state minister said at a policy dialogue on ‘Interoperability of Digital Finance in Bangladesh: Challenges and Taking-Off Options’ at a city hotel.
InM and United Nations Capital Development Fund organized the event which was also addressed by executive director of Bangladesh Bank (BB) Subhankar Saha, BB’s general manager of Payment Systems Department Dr. Lila Rashid, additional secretary of the financial institutions division of the finance ministry Arijit Chowdhury, executive director of InM Dr. Mustafa K Mujeri, programme manager of UNCDF Rajeev Kumar Gupta and country project coordinator of SHIFT in Bangladesh Md. Ashraful Alam.
Chairman of InM Dr. Qazi Kholiquzzaman Ahmad presided over the dialogue.
The speakers emphasized that Bangladesh has successfully promoted new innovations for promoting financial services to the low income groups, especially rural poor, women and small businesses. Rapid growth in adoption and active usage of digital financial services has taken place since 2012, they added.
Mobile financial inclusion has shown the promise of emerging as the most viable method of accessing financial services for the previously unbanked population, they said.
They said the regulators and private sectors need to respond to emerging issues related to DFS like interoperability, USSD pricing, e-KYC (electronic Know Your Customer), required regulatory reforms, innovation in product development targeting the low income groups.
Interoperability brings benefits to consumers, mobile money providers, and agents through increased convenience, cost savings, a greater choice of providers and better liquidity management for agents, the participants said.
Stressing the need for introducing interoperability of digital financial services (DFS), state minister for finance and planning MA Mannan said it would increase client benefits and facilitate competition based on product innovation and diversification.
DFS will also boost the growth of digital finance ecosystem in the country, he added.
“It will accelerate digital financial inclusion and complement Bangladesh government’s actions for digital transformation of the key sectors of the economy to achieve the goals of ‘Vision 2021’ agenda,” the state minister said at a policy dialogue on ‘Interoperability of Digital Finance in Bangladesh: Challenges and Taking-Off Options’ at a city hotel.
InM and United Nations Capital Development Fund organized the event which was also addressed by executive director of Bangladesh Bank (BB) Subhankar Saha, BB’s general manager of Payment Systems Department Dr. Lila Rashid, additional secretary of the financial institutions division of the finance ministry Arijit Chowdhury, executive director of InM Dr. Mustafa K Mujeri, programme manager of UNCDF Rajeev Kumar Gupta and country project coordinator of SHIFT in Bangladesh Md. Ashraful Alam.
Chairman of InM Dr. Qazi Kholiquzzaman Ahmad presided over the dialogue.
The speakers emphasized that Bangladesh has successfully promoted new innovations for promoting financial services to the low income groups, especially rural poor, women and small businesses. Rapid growth in adoption and active usage of digital financial services has taken place since 2012, they added.
Mobile financial inclusion has shown the promise of emerging as the most viable method of accessing financial services for the previously unbanked population, they said.
They said the regulators and private sectors need to respond to emerging issues related to DFS like interoperability, USSD pricing, e-KYC (electronic Know Your Customer), required regulatory reforms, innovation in product development targeting the low income groups.
Interoperability brings benefits to consumers, mobile money providers, and agents through increased convenience, cost savings, a greater choice of providers and better liquidity management for agents, the participants said.
