Sylhet Correspondent :Various payments through mobile banking is gaining popularity in Bangladesh Including Sylhet area as more organisations from grocery shop to hospital to airlines to utility service providers are accepting mobile payment for its easy, convenient and hassle free nature.Industry insiders said though sending and receiving money is still dominating the overall mobile money transaction, the mobile financial service providers – beyond sending and receiving money – are also offering services such as utility bill payment, mobile airtime top up, payment for shopping and interest on savings.The Bangladesh Bank (BB) aiming to create financial access for the poor and unbanked population, earlier, had given licence to 28 banks to launch mobile financial service across the country of which 20 banks are in operation.The bank-led mobile banking model proved successful as within four years of launching, the total number of mobile banking customers rose to 25 million, mostly poor and unbanked.However, majority of the mobile banking customers belong to BRAC Bank subsidiary bKash followed by Dutch Bangla Mobile Banking Limited.The statistics of the central bank in March showed per day mobile money transaction was around Taka 408 crore, which is 12 percent higher than the previous month.bKash officials said apart from sending and receiving money, bKash is also leading in offering various payment related services to its customers.A bKash account holder can recharge his or her mobile balance, pay for retail purchase, settle hospital bill, pay taxi fare and even book a plane ticket through his or her bKash account. The account holder does not need to pay any additional charge while availing those services.Rony, a student of Dhaka Dakshin ML Collage said, “I used to go to a top up retailer to recharge mobile balance which is a little bit far away from my home and there were other hassles too. Now, I can top up my mobile balance using my bkash account. Moreover, I can recharge the mobile balance for others. This makes my life easy and hassle free”.More than 5,000 organisations from corner shop to hospital to restaurant accept bKash payment.A bkash user can now pay through his or her bKash account while purchasing goods from Agora, Mina Bazar and Swapna, Aarong, Yellow, can settle medical bill at Square Hospital, buy plane ticket from US Bangla Airlines.Head of Marketing of bKash in Sylhet said, “Apart from sending and receiving money, a bKash user can do many things through bKash wallet. He or she can use his or her bKash account for shopping, mobile airtime top up, salary disbursement etc.”bKash is gradually becoming part of an individual’s day to day financial transaction need,” he added.
