Cash still accounts for 67.2% of transactions in Bangladesh despite cashless push
Data from Bangladesh Bank’s payment systems department shows that digital platforms accounted for 32.8% of total transaction value during the year
Highlights:
- Cash still dominates Bangladesh payments, making up 67.2% in 2025
- Digital transactions increased to 32.8% from 28% last year
- Informal economy keeps many transactions outside formal banking systems
- Businesses avoid formal channels due to taxes and regulations
- Infrastructure, internet access, and digital literacy limit digital adoption
- Bangladesh spends Tk20,000–22,000 crore yearly on printing currency
Despite Bangladesh Bank's campaign to promote a cashless society, cash remains the dominant mode of payment in the country, accounting for 67.2% of total transactions in 2025, according to the central bank's latest annual report.
Data from Bangladesh Bank's payment systems department shows that digital platforms accounted for 32.8% of total transaction value during the year.
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The figures, however, indicate gradual progress. In 2024, cash transactions accounted for 72% of total transactions, with the remainder conducted through digital channels.
According to the report, Tk209 lakh crore out of total Tk311 lakh crore was conducted in cash in 2025, while digital mode shared Tk102 lakh crore.
Digital payments include transactions through systems such as Real Time Gross Settlement, National Payment Switch Bangladesh, Bangla QR, internet banking and mobile financial services.
However, cash withdrawals and deposits through bank branches, ATMs or MFS agents are classified as cash transactions because physical money changes hands.
A transaction remains digital only as long as it stays within the digital ecosystem. Once cash is withdrawn or deposited, it is counted as a cash transaction, said a central bank official.
Informal economy remains a major hurdle
Experts say the persistence of cash reflects the size of the informal economy, where a significant transaction remains outside the formal banking system.
Although mobile financial services, digital banking and QR-based payment solutions have expanded rapidly, many businesses and individuals continue to prefer cash for convenience and to avoid greater financial scrutiny.
Syed Mahbubur Rahman, managing director and CEO of Mutual Trust Bank, said, "The country's informal sector remains outside the banking system. A large share of economic transactions takes place there in cash, and we have not yet been able to bring these activities into formal financial channels."
Dr Md Zahid Hussain, former World Bank lead economist in Dhaka, said building a cashless society would remain difficult unless the informal sectors are brought under the formal financial system.
"Large businesses in transport, agriculture, and wholesale-retail trade continue to operate outside banking channels. Many of them are reluctant to join the formal system because doing so would expose them to taxation and regulatory oversight," he said.
Infrastructure, trust challenges
Bankers also point to infrastructure constraints as a major barrier to digital adoption.
Many consumers still lack access to smartphones, reliable internet connections or the digital skills needed to use electronic payment systems. Small merchants and rural businesses often lack the infrastructure required to accept digital payments.
Syed Mahbubur said policy support alone would not be enough to accelerate the shift.
"Digital payment systems must become easier, more accessible and more convenient if we want people to adopt them on a larger scale," he said.
Dr Md Touhidul Alam Khan, managing director and CEO of NRBC Bank, said banks face a dual challenge of ensuring security while making digital services simple enough for users with limited digital literacy.
He warned that fraud incidents, failed transactions and complicated interfaces may erode trust and push users back toward cash.
The banker also stressed the need for an inclusive transition, saying the objective should be to expand consumer choice rather than eliminate cash.
Digital payment adoption remains sluggish even as the country continues to bear the substantial costs of a cash-driven economy. According to banking sector estimates, Bangladesh spends between Tk20,000 crore and Tk22,000 crore annually on printing currency notes.
