MFS transactions drop over 5%, but card use rises 2%

Transactions through mobile financial services registered a fall of more than 5% or Tk5,124 crore in July because economic activities went slow after Eid-Ul-Azha, one of the biggest festivals of the Muslims.

Eid was celebrated on 10 July and Eid-centric activities took place mostly towards the later part of June.

The amount of money transacted through MFS platforms dropped to Tk89,169 crore in July from Tk94,293 crore a month before, according to the latest Bangladesh Bank data.

On the other hand, card transactions rose by 2% to Tk38,461 crore in the same month, while foreign currency transactions stood at Tk442 crore, with more people preferring credit cards in foreign travels amid a crisis of cash dollars. The number of card holders stood at 3.24 crore as of July.

The central bank has also encouraged people to use credit cards for their foreign payments amid the dollar market volatility.

Customers carried out Tk25,780 crore cash-in transactions, Tk26,253 crore cash-out, Tk24,353 crore person-to-person transfer, Tk3,187 crore salaries and allowances of different organisations, Tk2,948 crore merchant payment and Tk1,859 crore utility bill payment, according to the central bank report on 13 MFS providers, including bKash and Nagad. 

At the end of July, the number of MFS accounts stood at more than 18.11 crore – 10.43 crore male and 7.64 crore female, while the number of agents was 15.26 lakh.

To encourage mobile banking, the central bank recently raised the maximum limit on cash-in through bank accounts and cards to Tk50,000 daily and Tk3 lakh monthly. 

The mobile banking service started its journey with the launching of Dutch-Bangla Bank's initiative Rocket in early 2011. Currently, 13 banks are operating mobile financial services, including bKash and Nagad.