The MFS Fair was held in Rangpur to celebrate 10 years’ of country’s mobile financial services (MFS) sector, which has transformed the country’s financial inclusion. At the city’s Public Library Field, colorful balloons were released to kick off the event, said a press release.
At the fair, awareness puppet show, Gambhira and Stage Drama were showcased to acknowledge MFS. With over 11 crore customers, the MFS sector is celebrating its 10th anniversary under the slogan – “Haater Muthoy Arthik Seba”, or “Financial services within hand’s reach”.
Md. Khurshid Alam, Executive Director of Bangladesh Bank, Head Office inaugurated the MFS Fair as chief guest.
Dr. Md. Kabir Ahmed, Executive Director of Bangladesh Bank, Rangpur Office presided over the program. Mir Nawbut Ali, Chief Marketing Officer of bKash; Ahosan Habib, Project Manager of OK Wallet along with other senior officials from Bangladesh Bank and MFS providers were also present.
The 10 years’ celebration of MFS event has been sponsored by bKash, Rocket, MCash, Upay, TAP, My Cash, TeleCash, Meghna Bank Limited, FSIBL, Rupali Bank Limited, OK Wallet, Islamic Wallet and Nagad.
In order to celebrate the 10 years of MFS sector, various initiatives have been taken at the divisional cities across the country including MFS Fair.
The Prime Minister’s directive and determination paved the way for MFS in Bangladesh a decade ago. As part of the government’s Digital Bangladesh vision, MFS was launched in 2011 to bring the people outside formal banking channel into financial inclusion, who previously had limited or completely no access to banking services.
With the intensive supervision and monitoring of Bangladesh Bank and initiatives taken by the MFS providers, a platform has been created to provide services that have intertwined themselves as a daily habit of financial transactions in Bangladeshi people’s lives. Bangladesh’s MFS sector has created a paradigm shift in financial inclusion not only in the country, but all over the world; it has set an example for people to commemorate. Starting the journey with bank-led model, currently there are 13 MFS providers in this sector.
The total number of MFS subscribers is more than 11 crore. The number of agents is more than 11 lakh. On an average, two crore transactions are made daily through MFS, amounting to Tk 2,295 crore.
Although the journey started with the opportunity of integrating technology to provide services like Cash In, Cash Out and Send Money, MFS has added a variety of creative and customer-centric services over the time. Mobile Recharge, receiving direct remittances from abroad, profit on money stored in mobile account, bill payment of various utility services, Add Money from bank to MFS account, Transfer Money from MFS to bank account, distribution of various government allowances and stipends, readymade garments sector, etc. The MFS sector is constantly being enriched with new services including distribution of salaries to workers, Digital Nano Loan of financial institutions through MFS and monthly Savings schemes. As a result, garnering people’s trust, MFS is bringing freedom and empowerment to people’s daily financial transactions.
